Starlight sisters
by Lady Star2
Summary: HI! This is my first fanfiction ever! YAY! Anyway here is whats going on. A new war has broken out and the G-Boys find themselves confronted by four females with links to the past. PLEASE R+R
1. The First Star Soldier

*This is all technical bull that I have to put up here so none of you people try to sue me. The G-boys and other such characters do not belong to me. They belong to the good people at the wonderful television corporations such as Sunrise and Bandai. Other Characters though are mine. I don't mind if you use the ones I have made up, but please have the decency to email me and tell you your going to use them.  Other wise enjoy the writing and I love feedback even if it's bad, because those help me to improve. *Thanks*  Starlight Sisters Chapter One: The First Star Soldier 

            Quatre woke up that morning as any other since the attack by the Kai Kingdom on the planet Earth. He was tired. Even as he trudged to the bathroom he could barely keep his eyes opened. He started the shower and washed himself and took time enough to look at his clock. He scowled. " Three o' clock in the morning and I am up." He idly grabbed into his closet and threw back in a pair of shorts that didn't match the shirt and opened his drawer to grab clean boxers and a pair of shorts that did go with the shirt. 

            As he dressed himself he reflected over the past information that Heero had given to him about the Queen Dawnty. He had known that she was the one they were fighting. She became Queen of the Kai Kingdom after the mysterious death of the former king, queen, and their daughter the princess. After she assumed all military control she began planning for war. That planning turned into this war. And since their Gundam's had been scraped after the Maria Maya War they had no real way to do great damage to Dawnty forces which have been dubbed "The Assails" or "A's" for short. He and the other Gundam pilot's had all been working around the clock accepting missions from Poe and Noin to do real damage to the A's forces. And for the moment Relena was living with all of the Gundam boys at one of the secure safe houses that were left to him by his late father. Heero at the very beginning of this war had found someway to fake Relena's security so that he could personally keep an eye on her. And when one of the A's forces tried to destroy her Heero got her out of there before she had lost her life. Though she had been badly injured and was still recovering only a limited number of people knew that she was still alive. Since then she had been living with the Gundam Boys as she called them.

            Quatre and the others also found she had hidden talents for persuasion and talking at well at strategizing for battles and infiltration into A's storehouses. Though she rarely offered her services they always knew that they were open and if a dire situation would come up she would be able to handle that part of a mission. She still refused to be taught to defend herself physically but that was her choice to make. Quatre finished dressing and made his way out of his bedroom. Trowa's room was across from his own and Wufei's right beside his. Duo's room was on the other side of the building along with Relena's and Heero's. Relena took up the room his mother had slept in and the others all used to belong to his sisters. Still he didn't want to wake up everyone in the house so he crept softly down the stairs. He made his way into the kitchen and reached into the refrigerator for some breakfast. Taking an orange and grabbing the bread from the pantry he headed to the toaster. After it was cooked he spread some butter on the bread peeled the orange and headed into the parlor room.

            He idly began eating while he booted up his computer and reviewed the notes on Dawnty. She was born the only female child of the Queen Amalthia and King Corus. But she was second born and that is why she didn't inherit the kingdom. Her older brother Prince Daniel inherited the Kai Kingdom. Their parents died on the same plane as Martial Noventa at the beginning of the OZ War. After that her brother inherited the kingdom and allied himself with the Sank Kingdom until it fell. Before the fall of the Sank Kingdom he married a woman by the name of Maria Maxwell and they had a child named Kari. After the end of the Mari Maya War Kari was seven years old. 

            After the end of the Mari Maya War the Kai Kingdom flourished. But it wasn't until three years later that the entire royal family was killed leaving Dawnty the only one open to accept the thrown. After she accepted the thrown the military power increased and a year later she attacked the Sank Kingdom beginning this war. What and odd quirk of fate that no matter how the Sank Kingdom wishes to prevent war it always ends up starting one Quatre thought. Though it wasn't documented they knew that Dawnty hated the G-boys for killing her parents and she hated that her brother had allied himself with a kingdom that harbored them. They also knew that it was probably Dawnty who had arranged the deaths of her brother and his wife and child so she could inherit the kingdom. A picture of the Princess Kari of the Kai Kingdom appeared on the screen. The bodies of the king and queen had been found but this young girl of about ten years of age had not. That brought up the question could the princess still be alive. And if she is still alive how did she get away and where is she now?

            The princess was quiet pretty though. She had a shoulder length chestnut colored hair with pretty green eyes she inherited from her father.  She seemed like she had a well upbringing just like he himself. She was know to be well mannered, intelligent, and all around fun loving. But it was her mothers last named that intrigued him the most. Maxwell was the same last name as Duo and he said she looked familiar but he couldn't say where. They all thought that maybe she was a part of his family but he said he couldn't know because he was an orphan who had lived on the streets with a guy named Solo until he died and Duo was taken to Maxwell church. That is how Duo received the name he goes by now which is Duo Maxwell. So maybe this woman was part of the Maxwell family. Another strange thing about the queen besides that she shared a last name with a gundam pilot is that almost all of her files had been deleted prior to meeting the king, her future husband. This all was very strange to Quatre. 

            After he finished reading the report he checked his Email and found a coded message from Poe. After using his decoder on the laptop it revealed a mission for all of the Gundam Pilots and new information. He quickly read over the stat of this new mission. It entailed that the Gundam Pilots were to go to the colony in the cluster of L3 to infiltrate a base and try to extract detailed information on the information that Poe had just sent. 

            Quatre proceeded to open the other file that would contain information on what they were going to steal from the A's forces. "So your up little one." Quatre turn quickly turned in his chair and found Heero standing behind him looking at the monitor. It always surprised him how Heero could sneak up on someone without them knowing it. "What are you doing up?" Quatre asked politely. 

            "I could ask you the same question. You have been getting up early since the start of the war and I don't think I have ever seen you have a decent night sleep since. What are you looking up?" 

            "I am over looking the information you gave us last night. Also Poe has sent us another mission. From what I have read we are going to sneak into a base and steal information concerning this." Quatre waved his hand toward the monitor and what was downloading on the screen. Heero pulled up a chair next to Quatre and they both read over the new information. 

            What they read shocked them. On the screen appeared a blurred image of what seemed to be a group of five people. Quatre could make out a long braid that fell below the knees of one of the people on the screen so he assumed it was a picture of the five gundam pilots on the last mission they had all been on together. But strange enough he could not recognize any thing else about the people in the picture. The information read: Dear Gundam pilots,

            This picture is not of you though I am sure you can all make out the long braid. It is a picture of a group of terrorist FEMALES who are working like the rest of us against the Assails. They are said to have a lot of "special skills" that resemble those of you pilots. This is questionable. Is there a group of females working like you pilots against the Assails? And if they are how did they acquired the same fighting tact as you pilots. From what we can acquire from own spies there is more information on this group in the base as well as the ideas of the whereabouts of the Princess Kari. You have three options. Delete this message and pretend you never received it. Accept this mission and prepare to infiltrate the base for the desired information. Or reject this mission. Your choice.

                                                Poe

She was right to think we would recognize the long braid. Duo had hair that was always in one long braid that fell below his knees. But now that she said it was a woman it made some sort of sense and now Quatre could make out the outline of her body. The picture was still blurry and you couldn't make out the faces or anything else for that matter so he quit staring and turn to discuses this with Heero. His face was furrowed in concentration. "So what do you think of this new twist? Do you really think there could be a group of girls fighting like us?" 

            "Possible. It is possible," was all he said. 

             "Morning Quatre, morning Heero. Whats for breakfast?" Duo wasn't too quiet coming down the stairs. Quatre turned to the digital alarm clock. "Duo its only four in the morning what are you doing up?" 

            "Couldn't sleep all that well," he was able to say through a yawn. Behind Duo were Trowa and Wufei. They all noticed the laptop. "Yo Quatre what's up? Do we have a new mission?" 

            "Yeah," he said as he began printing off six copies of the information. When they were done he passed the papers to the pilots leaving one for himself and Relena and deleted the information off of the computer.

 "So are we going to accept the information or not?" That was the major question at the dinner table. 

            "I don't see any reason not to. It could be quit beneficial if we were to find someone to help us. Who knows maybe they have more information about the A's forces than we do." Duo said through a mouth full of bacon.

            "Because we don't need help. Especially help from females." Came Wufei's immediate response. 

            " You really shouldn't be stereotyping females Wufei. These girls could be very important allies to you." Relena's soft response from the shadows caught all of them off guard.

            "Onna! I could kill you for meddling in our affairs!" Wufei announced throwing himself at her. The funny thing about living with five teen terrorists is you seem to develop fast reflexes. She was able to step out of Wufei's path just as he came within an inch of her body. He was able to throw his hands out to stop himself from busting his head against the wall. 

            "What if I told you I could help you find where these women are?" She said narrowing her eyes at them. 

            That threw them all off guard. She had never before offered her help to them and they had never asked for it. But here she was offering information that she thought she could get. "Listen you all are going to be to preoccupied with getting ready for this mission. After all you do leave tonight. So if I got as much information as I could on the base the surrounding area and if I have time these girls so you five will have more time to get you asses in gear so you don't get yourselves irreparably damaged like the last time."

            " Relena you really shouldn't be offering to do this. After all you could be harmed or traced. Plus after this war is over with you are going to have to take your place as the foreign minister and this would look really bad in the public eye" came Trowa's whisper of a response.

            "I am tired of every one saving me and me doing nothing to help myself or those who are helping me. I can't stand by and not do anything any more. I will remain pacifistic always. I am just going to help you guys stay safe. You have all done so much for me that I need to return the favor now. Let me do this." 

            "Sure." Heero said finally looking up from his eggs. 

            She walked out of the room not giving a moment for anyone to reject his order.

            Quatre smiled. She was really a good person. It was just so sad that she is constantly involved in something that she stands so strongly against. Quatre realized that at the end of the Mari Maya War that she finally understood where they as Gundam pilots had always been coming from. What he really admired about her was her ability to adapt and understand people. It just took her a little bit longer to understand them. But now she did and was willing to help. And who was he to step in the way of her taking a little bit of the load off of them. 

            Quatre headed upstairs to get ready for an eight-day mission to the L3 colony clusters. 

Meanwhile in a safe house on one of the L3 colony cluster two figures are waking up.

            Jade's eyes fluttered open and she remembered that everything that had happened in her life wasn't just some bad nightmare that she could wake up from. She heard steady breathing in the bed next to her own and looked over to see Kari's pretty brown hair buried comfortably in the strong protective arms of Woo. Looking up from Kari's peaceful head she saw that Woo's eyes were also opened. Their eyes met. Jade smiled and Woo returned her smile. Then they both looked down to the sleeping chestnut brown head. 

            "I'll go and contact the others and make some coffee for you." She whispered to her. Woo nodded her Oriental head. Jade made her way as slowly and quietly so as not to wake up Kari. Her deep brown hair in its long braid swished behind her as she booted up the computer. As the computer booted up she made her way into the tiny kitchen and began a coffee pot. She herself hated the stuff but Woo Li Wufei couldn't get her ass to respond properly without the stuff. While the computer was working and the coffee brewing she made her way over to the bathroom and undid the tie of her hair. She began brushing it and redid it into a looser braid mentally telling herself that it would have to do until she could get the tresses wet allowing her hair to become more manageable and stable. She heard the computer beep and made her way back to it and over looked the information that had been sent to them by Stephanie. 

            Oh Man!She said mentally to herself. How could they have been so careless? A blurry picture of the five of them showed up on the screen. Her own brown braid seemed to be the only thing that was really distinguished from it but still they should not have been photographed at all. Pure carelessness. But there wasn't much they could do about it now. They were going to the base near by to extract whatever information the A's had been able to get on them including the whereabouts of Kari anyway so they would take that out while they were there too. She checked on the coffee and sent Lily and Stephanie an email finalizing the last of their plans. She heard Kari waking up in the other room. She got up and went into the room that she, Kari, and Woo had shared the night before. 

            "Woo girl where are we now? How did we get here? I don't remember?" Kari made out through a yawn. 

            "Well you wouldn't have remembered it because we transported you while you were sleeping. Right now we are in a safe house in one of the L3 colony clusters. We got here by riding on the Gundams." Was her response to Kari's endless questions while Woo playfully ruffled her hair. "By the way," Woo said a smile crinkling the corners of her mouth, " don't you think you should hop into the shower?"

"Oh all right." Kari said agreeably. They both smiled as she bounced her way into the bathroom and closed the door. Woo shook her head and stood up walking into the kitchen. She was clothed in a sports bra and loose tie pants while Jade was in a sports bra and loose tank top with a loose pair of flannel shorts. Woo pour herself a cup of coffee. "So what did Steph say?" 

"We were photographed Woo. All five of us on that last mission were photographed." Jade said without any emotion. 

Woo turned with a shocked look on her face. "You're not joking, are you? This is crazy! There was no way that could have happened!" She said in a harsh whisper. 

"Just means we are going to have to extract that information along with the other when we hit that base." She said in monotone. When it comes to missions and the safety of her crew Jade's very serious. She prided herself on her ability to take care of herself and others. But they were skills that Jade wished she didn't have to use anymore. She had used and been taught those skills since the very beginning of her life. She was almost twenty now and wars had plagued her world for as far back as she could remember. But she continued to use them because there were people out there who shouldn't see the horror of war. People like Kari. Yes, when it came to the safety of those she trusted and those she protected Jade would go to any means possible to ensure their safety before even her own. 

"So what now? We leave for the colony that the others are on?"

"Yes. First, all of us are going to get dressed, disposing of anything that would even remotely suggest that someone had been here. Then we leave on that carrier with Hydra and Starlight." 

"Sounds good to me." She said taking a sip of the warm brew. 

"Next we are going to head off to another colony to meet up with Zech so we can get those key cards. And after that we hit the base." She said all of this with coldness in her voice. 

"Jade are you all right? You don't seem to be yourself lately. You're so serious all the time and you never have fun like you used to. But I guess it is understandable. This is a war not a time for fun. But Kari misses the way you used to have fun with her. And well, we all miss the person you used to be before you upgraded Light to Starlight. Maybe the Zero system is as dangerous as it is said to be. It has changed you." Woo said setting down her coffee and looking straight at Jade with worry in her voice. 

She knew that the Zero system had changed her. Before, she had piloted Light, which was just as upgraded of a Gundam as the regular, but with out the Zero system installed. She had later found a copy of the Zero system that had been duplicated by Zechs himself. That is how she had found out that Zechs wanted to help the resistance by being a spy for their forces. Since then he had become a reliable spy and had time after time proven himself worthy of their respect and trust. That is how they had come by the information that the A's had limited knowledge of them and the whereabouts of Kari. That is probably how they had come by the blurry picture. In three nights there was to be a drop off of the key cards to the base allowing their access to that information. Five nights after that they were going to destroy that information before anyone got a good look at it.  

"You should get into the shower after Kari, Woo. I will take one once we reach the colony VNT34668. While you are in the shower Kari and I will get everything cleaned up and ready to go. Then, we stay only long enough to allow you enough time to get dressed then we leave. Its going to take us eight hours to get to that other colony not to mention we've got to drop of Kari at Heldi's on colony VNT34667." 

"Yeah. Thank God for Heldi. The girl's a lifesaver. When do we pick Kari up?"

"Three nights after the base infiltration." Jade said with a nod of her head. 

"Am I going to Aunt Heldi's again? I wish for once you guys would think I am old enough to help you with missions." Came Kari's response from the other room. The sound of fabric told Jade that she was getting dressed. 

"Because you are inexperienced in the matters of warfare and we don't want you getting hurt. Heidi is a good person who is willing to hide you until we can find a permanent place for you so we can watch over you but still be free to do our duty and fight against Dawnty. We can't leave you with Heldi because she is a fighter for Dawnty and a spy for us just like Zechs. How many times do we have to go over it with you until you understand that? It is because you were able to slip into one of our Gudam's the last time that we were photographed and now we have to extract that information from the base along with the rest." Woo yelled to her in the other room. 

"Anyway Kari you need to start getting your things packed we are leaving for colony VNT34667 in an hour." Jade yelled to Kari. She then turned to Woo. "And you need to get into the shower. We have got a long eight days ahead of us." 


	2. Meeting

Gundam Wing Fanfiction part 2

            Starlight Sisters

Chapter2: Meeting 

            Two mornings later Jade was typing away at her computer waiting for Zechs to sign on. Then his screen name finally showed up on the monitor. All he typed back was: Meet me at the 8BlackBall club. I will be there at around midnight but I suggest you get there a couple of hours earlier than me because I am going to be pressed for time and I can't say for certain that I will make it there. You all know what to do.

            Jade smiled. Yeah she knew what the reputation of the 8BlackBall club was. It was a pool hall and dance club under the same roof. She and the others had often spent free hours hanging out in that club before the beginning of the war. "Zechs just Instant Messaged me, and he wants to meet us at the 8BlackBall club tonight. The drop off will be there."

            Lily stuck her towel wrapped head inside her door. "Really. Sounds good to me. Besides, it's about time we had some fun. You are working way too hard and need a real break."

            Jade turned around in her chair to face Lily at the door. "What do you mean by I need a break? I have been trained to do this since I was younger than Kari."

            "But that is just it Jade. You have been trained for this but you are human too. You do get tired and I don't care what you say about being the perfect soldier. No matter what you are still human made of flesh and blood. And a part of being human is to make mistakes. You just make less than the rest of us. Now start planning what you want to wear tonight and I will go tell the others."

            Lily's head disappeared from sight and Jade heard the door leading from her room down the hall close. At times she almost hated caring so much about each of them. Woo and she had found each other when they both became captives in an OZ base a few months after 01 had self-destructed in Siberia. Lily and Steph had known each other since they were very young on account of their brothers being best friends. They had each found each other when the base that Woo and she were escaping from came under attack by Lily and Steph. They took them in with them. Later they would save the girl who would become the fifth member of their team from a burning palace where her mother and father had been killed by her own aunt who would kill her if she could ever find out where she was. Kari's child innocents help all of them become better people. 

            Jade stood up and stretched her limbs_. Maybe I am working to hard._ she thought to herself as she made her way into the living room. The lights of the colony were dimming and she knew she would have just enough time to get into the shower and throw on some clothes. It was very rare that she got to play pool and sing karaoke anymore. She loved to sing and perform and pool was something she was really good at. 

            She made her way into the bathroom and turned on the water. 

Somewhere close by on the colony, 5 boys are trying to have a little fun. 

It was just another quiet evening at the safehouse. Quatre was trying to learn to meditate. Wufei was instructing Quatre on his breathing technique. Heero was trying to find more information on those terrorists and Trowa was finding more out on the base. Duo was in the shower. Quatre was just breathing out when he heard the bathroom door open. He opened his eyes to find the violet-eyed pilot dressed in tight leather pants and a loose shirt that said, "Stop or you'll go blind" on the back. He had one silver stud in his right ear and his hair was done up in it's usual style. He heard Trowa come out of his bedroom and a loud gasp could be heard from Wufei. 

            "Maxwell what exactly do you think you are doing in that get up." Wufei growled. 

            "Last time I checked I didn't need a nanny to tell me what I could and couldn't wear Fei." Was Duo's casual remark. 

            "You don't Duo so don't mind Wufei. But if you don't mind me asking where are you going tonight." Quatre said getting up from the floor. 

            "Well I heard from Cathy that there was a really good nightclub called the 8BlackBall around here and I thought I would go and check it out. Why you want to come Quatre?"

            Quatre cocked his head to the side a sure sign that he was thinking seriously about the idea. "Sure why not. I need a break anyway. Why don't you come with us Trowa?"

            Trowa looked a little awkward for a moment and asked, "The 8BlackBall is a pool hall right Duo?"

            "Pool hall and dance club."

            "Well alright sounds good to me."

            "Can I come?" Wufei said sounding a little unsure. 

            Duo crossed his arms over his chest and gave the former Shinglong pilot a cynical look. "Woo-man wants to come and play pool with the big boys?"

            He just shrugged his shoulders "I have never been to one."

            Duo looked shocked. His mouth hung open and just kind of swayed there for a moment. Then he quickly closed his mouth and just shook his head. "We are just going to have to remedy that."

            The door to Heero's room opened and out popped the perfect soldier. "I just got all of the stats for our next mission. They will be printed out by tomorrow and we will begin going over then in the afternoon." He said heading for the kitchen. 

            "Hey wait up Mr. Perfect Soldier. Look the rest of us are going out and pretending we have a life. You want to come?" Duo remarked bounding over to him and turned him around by the arm. 

            "Why would I want to do that?"

            "Well I guess you wouldn't" Duo said a little disappointed. Then, he resumed his happy form. "Damn Heero haven't you ever met anyone who could get you to have a little bit fun or at least pretend you have a life." 

            Surprisingly that seemed to have done the trick. For a fleeting moment if Quatre hadn't know a little better he would have thought that was a type of pain written across his face. What ever it was it was going in a fleeting instant. "I didn't say I wouldn't go."

            Duo was ecstatic. "Well alright. We are all going. I was planning to leave in a half an hour. Is that all right with the rest of you?"

            They all nodded their heads and headed to their rooms to get ready for the evening.

                        Forty-five minutes later outside of the 8BlackBall club. 

"Check it out guys." Duo was saying over the music blaring from the speakers. The entire place was hazy from all of the smoke in the air. Techno lights were blinking on and off in a verity of color. It was amazing. The entire place was crowded with people moving and singing to a popular song on the stereo system. Off to the side you could hear the cue ball hitting the others at the start of a game. Duo was waving his hand out invitingly and walking toward the sounds of clashing pool balls and pool sticks. 

            "Well what do ya say Trowa," Duo said tossing a pool stick at him, "want to see if you can beat me at more than mobile suit combat?" 

            Trowa just smiled and grabbed the pool stick in midair. Quatre racked the pool balls together while Duo asked whether or not Trowa wanted to break or not. Trowa ended up breaking and losing to the first game against Duo. Quatre almost hated to admit it but Duo seemed to be pretty good at pool. Wufei and Heero spent their time sitting down at a nearby table drinking water while Quatre sat at a stool close to the pool table watching. Trowa won the second game. Then, Quatre, Wufei, Heero, and Trowa all played teams while some girl who wanted to dance hauled off Duo. That is when they took the stage.

            Meanwhile on stage four girls preparing to change their destinies forever.

            Jade opened her eyes when she heard their names being introduced. "And now welcoming the fan favorites here at the 8BlackBall club. Please give it up for the Stars." A loud cheer came up and you could here the people chanting for them. Jade turned to Woo at her right. Woo gave her a sly smile and nodded her head. She turned to Steph at her left. She just nodded her head. She smiled and faced the crowd loving the adrenaline that was rushing through her body. She hadn't done this in a long time. It was the best way she knew to have fun. 

The microphone was attached to headphones she wore leaving her hands free. Her pants clung to her legs like a second skin and her halter-top was so small that it showed most of her midriff and her leather jacket with all of its charms jangled all around her. Her hair was in its customary braid. She felt like any other normal crazy twenty year old out with her friends. 

             The lights came on and she saw the faces of the people who were screaming their names. Then their were those who weren't cheering because the had never scene or heard of them before. They were about to find out why they were the fan favorite here at the 8BallBlack club. "Yo people how is everyone tonight. Yo pump of the volume DJ. We got to get this party started." Woo yelled into her microphone. 

             Woo rarely had this much fun. When she did she savored it to the end. They all did. The volume of the speakers rose but you could barely heard them over the shouting of the crowd. Jade and the others formed a single file line across the stage. The old earth song that they were about to sing was still popular to this day. It was the song that had made them popular here at the 8BlackBall club and it was always one that they had fun with. The lights dimmed the spotlight focused on her and she was ready. Shifting her hips back and forth looking at the crowd she sang, "Its after midnight and she's on your phone." The lights then focused for an instant on all of them as they sang, "phone". Jade brought out her hand and wiggled her fingers singing, "Saying come over because she's all alone. I could tell it was your ex by you tone." Then she shrugged her shoulders singing, "why is she calling after so long," Then they all slid back and forth across the stage with the lights bright singing, "Now what is it that she wants. Tell me what is it that she needs. Did she hear about the brand new beinze that you just bought for me? Cause ya'll didn't have no kids. Didn't share no mutual friends. And you told me that she turn trick when ya'll broke up in ninety-six'." 

            And so the song went on. They moved from the sage to the dance floor dancing with some people who knew their dance moves to this song. Then on the last end of the song they moved back to the stage and ended with a pose. "Thank you. Your all a beautiful audience." Woo said and they left the stage. A few minutes later they came out from the backstage door. They received a bunch of congratulations and offers to dance but all they wanted to do was play some pool. That is where Zechs would meet them at the pool tables. That is when three of the five-gundam pilots came into view. Their was the handsome but sometimes careless Duo Maxwell staring openly at them and the mysterious Trowa Barton holding a pool stick trying not to stare at them. Duo was shaking Quatre Rababa Winner and pointing toward them.  _Oh great just perfect. Now we have to…wait do they know about…NO of course they couldn't know about us. The information hasn't been there long enough for them to access it and figure out about Kari and us. _ 

            Duo swaggered over to them and casually extended his hand to Jade. "Hello their lady. You know either our hairstyle must be common or great minds think alike. I am Duo." Jade extended her hand and shook Duo's in the American custom she had been told. "Strong silent type huh? I have been around your type long enough to know."

            "No I am not that silent. I am sorry for being rude. You just sort of surprised me. We don't often meet people as polite as you. You can call me Janice Metzger." _You don't want the Gundam pilots to suspect who we are. And acting like your brother would do it. Don't get your hackles up Jade or you will give up who you are!_

"Well then do the rest of you guys have names or are we suppose to call you all Janice?" Duo said looking past her to stare openly at Woo. _If he only knew that between her cleavage and inside the heel of her shoe is enough firepower to blow this entire club to bits. _

            "No you can call me Ching." Woo said moving over to where the pool sticks were and idly grabbing one. 

            The other two moved toward the other pool tables and began racking the balls. Then Lily moved pass Duo and stared straight at Trowa. "I am Arial. Play a little one on one against me?" She stuck out her thumb indicating one of the pool tables. _Congratulations Lily you finally get to test you skills against a gundam pilot. And you just gave me a great idea. _

            "Hey Q-man did you see where Wufei and Heero went?"

            Quatre was finding it hard to keep his eyes off of the dark haired beauty before him. He finally snapped back into reality. "Uh yeah they went to the bathroom. They should be back soon." Steph was just leaning back observing. Just as Lily was about to hit the cue ball the sounds of shattering glass and gunfire could be heard as they all instinctively dunked for cover. 


	3. The Star Falls

Gundam Wing Fanfiction part 3   

Starlight Sisters Chapter 3: The Star Falls 

            Quatre ducked for cover they same time Janice had if that was even the girl's name. He knew that the girls who had just sang on stage and were just about to play pool with them were also the terrorist group of females Poe had been talking about. Up close and without the blurry images of the screen the girl was just plain gorgeous. But there was something about her looks that reminded him of someone. He just couldn't put his finger on who or where. Janice's cobalt blue eyes were on him and were suddenly confused as if she were trying to make a choice. Her eyes finally narrowed and she looked beyond him. "Woo you ready to rumble?"

            Confused Quatre looked behind him. The Oriental girl behind him simply nodded her head and reached into her shirt pulling out what looked like a barrel to some sort of gun. Then she pulled up her boot and there on the heel of her boot was the outline of a compartment that could be slid on and off. She slid the cover off and pulled out bullets and the rest of the gun parts. As Woo proceeded to assemble the gun the rest of the girls pulled guns out of hidden purses and the one named Janice pulled charms off of her leather jacket and began assembling her own gun. Soon there were four armed female terrorists hiding behind a pool table and firing off at the Dawnty soldiers. 

            "Shit Jade there is too many of them! I don't think we can defeat them." 

            "Jade! Who the fuck is Jade." came Duo's loud response

            Janice leaned against the now side ways pool table, released a clip from her gun and reached into her boot for her last clip. "I'll introduce myself properly later Duo Maxwell but for now she is Woo," motioned her gun towards the Oriental girl firing off over the table," the girl with the blonde hair beside me would be Lily and the girl with light brown hair is Steph," she leaned over the pool table fired three shots and ducked back under the table," and I am Jade." 

            "I just hope Wufei and Heero are here somewhere," Duo said covering his ears. 

            Woo turned to Duo with shocked eyes, "Heero Yuy and Wufei Chang are here?"

            Duo just turned to her with confused eyes, his hands still covering his ears, and nodded. Woo looked at Jade with a look of pure shock. Jade's eyes just narrowed. "We will deal with them later Woo." Deal with them? How could these girls know Heero and Wufei? What did they have against them? Quatre didn't know. All he knew was that if these girls even thought about messing with either of them they were in for a rude awakening because there wasn't any way two girls like them could possibly beat either of them in any combative way. 

            "So what are we going to do?" Lily said. 

            Jade just stared into space for a second and then looked at Trowa. "Trowa Barton. Can you still do that jump spin kick?" Trowa nodded. Jade quickly looked over the pool table and seem to find what she was looking for. "Good. Then listen. I want you to jump off the edge of this pool table and land behind the bar on the left end of the club. While you do that Steph and Lily will take Duo and Quatre and run low so they can slide under the stage. Once you're under the stage Lily and Steph know where the trap door is so you guys can get out safely." 

            "But Jade what about you and I" Woo said. 

            "You are going to take the bar trap door with Trowa. You can do the same spin kick can't you?" 

            Woo nodded but said, "What about you?  I figure that the shooters will try for Trowa and I but will have a hard time trying to hit us which will give the others time to run to the other trap door and everyone gets out safely but you and the other two Pilots."

            "I am banking on the chance that maybe the other Pilots got out of here before the gunshots rang out. I am going to bring up the rear for the others. Any other arguments?" 

            No one said anything.  

            "Kay then I will take that as a yes. On my mark ready.... set.... GO!" 

            At that moment two figures could be seen leaping off the side of a pool table and a five other people running low in front of a girl with a long braid. But only the trained eyes would have seen the platinum blonde head carefully take aim at the five running to the stage. Luckily for Quatre a trained eye was watching.

            "Quatre get down!" The Arabian slowed, but Jade quickly slammed him to the ground. Quatre looked up to see her face cringed in agony as the bullet continued to rip apart the insides of her shoulder. She clutched her shoulder and brought herself up using mostly just leg power. Quatre was stunned. Then it finally became clear. "You took a bullet for me?" he whispered. She reached into her back holder and found her gun. She slightly wobbled and the gun dropped. The firing had ceased and everyone just watched the girl collapse onto the ground. 

            Quatre quickly moved to pick up the gun and defend him and the girl as best he could. At that moment two figures descended from the iron beams supporting the roof. The Chinese boy firing of an automatic gun and the dark hair boy quietly scooping up the injured girl. She didn't even stir. "Quatre are you alright." 

            "Yes Heero I am. What about you and Wufei?" 

            "We're alright but we've got to get out of here. Wufei! Lets go I got her." 

            Wufei just nodded. He fired off a few more rounds and quickly began to run to the wall on the other side of the room. They all dropped as Wufei threw a grenade at the opposite wall. The wall disappeared and they made their escape into the streets of one of the colonies and the L3 colony cluster. Quatre told Heero and Wufei what happened as they quickly made their way back to the safe house. When they reached the door Quatre was saying, "and that is when the two of you show up." 

            "Quatre, Wufei, Heero, where have you been and why are you carrying her?" Trowa said while putting his feet on the floor and moving quickly to check the girl's pulse. All through the dash back to the safe house her eyelids never even fluttered. The girl was losing a lot of blood. "Duo, bring the first aid kit. We are going to have to get that bullet out of her flesh and then we can at least bandage the wound up." Duo's head popped out of the kitchen with a Twinkie in his mouth and quickly ate it and said, "Hey it's that Jade girl." 

            "Yes Duo that is quite noticeable." Came Trowa's response as he followed the other three boys into Heero's bedroom where she was placed on the bed her wounded arm covered with already blood stained towels. Duo rushed into the room with the first aid kit. The kit had everything in it except a respirator. Heero torn the girl's shirt off as Trowa got the painkiller ready to inject into the girl's skin while Duo and Quatre talked to the girl trying to reassure her that everything would be alright even though she was unconscious. The silken skin of her stomach and chest quickly rose and fell as the girls gasped for air. With out warning a tear fell from the girl's eyes and she gasped air in her lungs and arched her back and a blood-curling scream emanated and echoed in the room. They were all dumb-founded. Her eyes opened and you could see that the pupil of her eye was much bigger that her iris. The bullet must have been tipped with some sort of drug because she was clearly hallucinating. "Jade, can you hear me?" was Heero's response. The braided girl's eyes just narrowed and she whispered, " Heero am I going to die. It hurts so badlAAAAAAHAHAAHHHHHHH!" The girl never finished that sentence because in that moment she arched her back again and let out a pain filled scream. Just as she did Wufei noticed large red welts appear on the skin of her stomach just below her sports bra. "Heero I think they injected her with Nightmare Shade. Look at her stomach."

            "I have been around the block Wufei but run it by me again about what exactly

 Nightmare Shade is?" was Duo's desperate response as he tried to hold the girl's body down because she was thrashing about wildly. 

            "Nightmare Shade was a new drug that the Assails created. If a drop of it is placed in the blood stream it affects you mind and body. First you mind begins to remember either a horrible nightmare or a terrible memory. Once that process happens it creates a chemical imbalance in the mind and in nicer words you experience the same ordeal over. For instance Quatre when your father was killed it was a terrible pain or memory. If you were to be injected with this stuff you would experience your father's death over again. For this girl though she is also going through the physical affects as well. 

            "What do you mean Wufei, by physical affects."

            "I mean that since your mind is going through it again so is her body. For Heero, if he were to be injected then he might go through the self-destruction of 01 in Siberia. If that were to happen not only would his mind have to go through it all of the old injures would happen. His mind would make it real and his body would be shattered. The worse part of all of this is that if the antidote isn't found then the mind will just continue to go through that experience until either the mind breaks down or the body is injured to badly that they would die from suffering through the injuries so many times."

            "So what are we going to do about it? I don't think that we have the antidote for her in the first aid kit because this is the first time I have ever even heard of it." Duo said desperately trying to hold the withering body down so she wouldn't harm herself. Quatre just look sadly at the beauty literally dying before his very eyes. She was no longer the elegant girl he had first met. She was wild with the same amount of strength as Heero. She only wore her tight jeans and a black sports bra. Her hair was frazzled in its braid. Her face and stomach were coated in sweat. Her arm and chest were spattered with her own blood. Blood she gave up to save him. Quatre couldn't just let her lay there and die knowing she had sacrificed her self to save the life of a complete stranger: him. Quatre asked, "Heero is her name really Jade?"

            He look uncertain for a moment then responded, " Jade is her code name. Its the only name she has ever known or been called though." 

            "Listen Jade I know you can hear me. You're going to have to be strong and fight back. You need to give me time to find and contact my sister who will have the antidote for you. I don't know you but neither will I let you die after what you did for me. You probably saved my life. I need a chance to do the same for you. You're a friend of mine now and I don't let my friends die without doing everything I can to save their lives. I don't know what you have gone through in your life, but I know you can get through it. You're strong you proved that to me tonight. I don't know you very well, but I want to get to know you. Don't give up. You must have something to live for other wise why are you still in existence. Please I am asking you not to give up, not yet, not now, not ever." Her cobalt eyes opened for a fleeting moment and she nodded her head. Quatre moved to the computer in the corner room and within twenty minutes he located his sister. In another fifteen he had located an underground medical facility and told them he was going to need the antidote immediately. They told him a messenger would be there to give him the package.           

Within the next hour Jade went through what seemed like years of abuse and neglect. She was so cold that clouds came out of her mouth when she breathed. She shook with either pain or fear and at one point her hair was sliced in half. Enormous bruises appeared on the side of her face, legs, and arms.  Duo was scared and kept saying it was a ghost. Heero was hurt, and when he saw her hair get cut his eyes widened. He shook his head and said under his breath, "I thought they reprogrammed that memory out of her." Trowa looked him straight in the eyes, "You know her from somewhere. Where?"

            "It is only half my story to tell. I swore never to tell anyone without her permission." He said uncomfortably. Trowa finally was able to remove the bullet and bandage the gunshot wound on her shoulder. Trowa heard the front door open and close and a rustling sound of money being exchanged and the front door closing. Quatre walked into the room and quietly handed the bottle to Heero. Heero in turn handed it to Trowa. Trowa handed to Wufei. Wufei nodded his head. "Duo hand me a needle from that first aid kit." Duo reached over the girl and grabbed one from the first aid kit. Wufei filled the needle and injected the blue liquid into the wrist of the girl's arm. "If she pulls through till morning she should be alright in a day or so." With that he turned and left the room. "I need my sleep to check on her in the morning. One of you should stay with her tonight just in case if she wakes up or something." With those final words the door close. Heero looked at the other three and said, "I'll stay with her tonight." 

            The other three retired to their rooms with Quatre being the last to leave. She was alive in the morning, even though she wasn't conscience. For three days the Gundam Pilots kept watch on the young girl, with Quatre and Heero being the most concerned. Heero fed her and kept a close eye on her progress. Quatre talked to her telling her about the other Gundam Pilots and all of their adventures in the wars and how they had all grown close together. He told her about how Heero was their leader, how Trowa was the silent one, how Duo was the loud one, and how Wufei was the one who believed in justice. 

                                                Three days later the young star awakens.

            Her eyes open. Pain began to instantly shoot to her brain. The slashes on her stomach ached and it hurt to breath. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know whose clothes she was wearing. She slowly raised herself up on the one arm that didn't hurt as much as the other one. She threw off the coverlet and swung her slim legs off the bed. She inspected where she was. 

            The room was blue with limited furniture. There was a drawer, one full-length mirror, the bed, and one window. She looked out the window and quickly came to the conclusion that she was still on the colony in the L3 cluster. It was night too. She inspected her body. She wore a large, white, T-shirt, that didn't have sleeves. On her legs were blue-checkered, men's, boxers. Her legs had numerous scratches and bruises each one she looked at seemed to reminded her of one she had had before in the exact same place. She lifted up her shirt and found the slashes. The ends of the shirt fell from her hands and her hands swung up to cover her mouth. She knew those slashes. _Dr. J sent us on that mission. I was to infiltrate the base. But I was caught. NO MORE!!_

            The palms of her hand smashed her temples into skull. Her faces scrunched up to try and keep her mouth from shouting out in a scream. She took several deep breaths to try and calm her down. Her hands slowly relaxed and fell to her sides. She shoulder began to throb with pain so she moved it into a more comfortable position. Her mind was still racing. "What happened to me? I remember the angel talking to and telling me not to die, but after that it was like old bad memories." She looked down at her stomach. "Only these are just as real and just as painful as the originals." 

            She gingerly placed weight on her feet and slowly stood. She wobbled a little bit, but was able to make it to the mirror without falling or making too much noise. Her left eye was purple, swollen and ugly. Half of her hair was cut off and the long locks fell around her like a glowing brown halo. She carefully reached up and lightly touched her black eye that almost made it impossible to see out of her left eye. Her eyes grew sad and her whole face fell into a small and sad expression. 

            She heard a violin being played. A slow, sad melody emitted from the door to the room. She slowly and quietly opened the door out of the room. Then a flute joined the violin. She stopped for a moment hoping that she hadn't made a noise before proceeding. Using all of the stealth she had ever been taught by Dr. J she made her way down a hallway. There was no door at the end of the hallway just an arch so she plastered herself against the wall and craned her head so she could look out the arch without anyone seeing her. The Deathsythe's pilot Duo had his legs swung over the back of a couch with his head upside down hanging off the couch. Wufei was sitting on the couch next to him with his elbows leaning off his knees. Both of them were looking at the other two pilots who stood on the balcony. Trowa was playing the flute, Quatre the violin. The harmony between them was spellbinding. They played the notes over and over in a seemingly endless melody.  Each time they played them though the notes seemed to take on a stronger and stronger meaning being played with more happiness each time. The Sandrock's pilot with his blonde head looked so familiar to her. The beauty of which they played was soothing and happy. She was awestruck by them and for a moment Quatre, his violin, and herself were the only ones in the room. "Man you two really know how to make an old young soldier feel loved." Duo sighed. Wufei and Trowa just smile at Duo's sarcasm and Quatre chuckled.  Jade shifted her weight from one foot to another and the board beneath creaked. The music stopped and Jade quickly plastered her entire body out of sight of the Pilots. "What was that?" Wufei responded and she could hear the creaking of the boards and he stood up from couch. She heard Quatre and Trowa put down their instruments and a ruffle of fabric as Duo somersaulted off of the couch. Jade knew she was going to have to attack if she had any hopes of keeping her secret. 

            Duo was the first one she saw pass through the archway. Quickly her left foot shot up and connected with the American's jaw. He landed on the floor crying out loudly and cradling his wounded face. Jade cringed slightly at the pain she felt run through her foot. She gingerly placed it on the floor and stepped out of the corner and took a fighting stance looking at the floor before facing her opponents. Trowa threw a kick at her stomach. Wufei snapped a palm strike for her face. Jade scissor block and both attacks were cancelled out. She bent her legs and curved her back and jumped, kicking both of them in the chest.  They both fell back and Jade landed on her right hand, but her left hand shot out from underneath her and she landed on her back. She resisted the urge to cry out in pain and rolled backwards onto her toes and stood up. She took a fighting stance and ran straight at Trowa plowing into him causing him to fall back again. 

            Duo rammed his shoulder into the small of her back. Wufei pinned her arms down and Duo pinned her legs. She screamed. "Duo, Wufei, let her go." Quatre said as he watched her cry out. "Why should we Quatre? She attacked us. She could be a spy. Heero should have never had brought her here." Wufei yell. 

            "Wufei let her go." Came Heero's response as he closed the door and shrugged off his jacket. 

            "Why should we?" Wufei yelled at him.

            "Don't tell him anything Heero!" Jade screamed. She struggled against them but it didn't help. 

            Wufei brought her up so that she was on her knees with him holding her arms behind her. "Heero she attacked us. So give me one good reason why I should trust her and let her go." Heero looked at Jade with a sort of pleading hope in his eyes.

            "Jade I trust them. They trust me. I promise that you can depend on them."

            She just looked into Heero's eyes for a moment, searching them trying to see if what he said was the truth. "I don't know Heero. I just can't be sure of anything anymore. I-I-I'm tired of being betrayed. I won't make that mistake again."

            Wufei loosened his grip on her. His eyes softened a little when he heard those words. But he didn't let her go.

            "Jade you once asked me never to tell anyone about our past. But if I am to convince them to trust you then I must tell them."

            "Do you truly trust them Heero?"

            "Just about as much as I trust you."

            That rocked her to her very core. She knew now that he truly did trust them. This had become his family. But they didn't know that they had an extension to their family. That extension was her and her family. 

             "Excuse me, but who exactly is she Heero?" Duo gestured to Jade. 

            Jade nodded her head. Heero and Jade said simultaneously, "Sister." Quatre was stupid. "She is your what." He asked dumbfounded.

            Jade looked directly at him. "My full code name is Jade Yuy. I am Heero's only living blood relative. We know for a fact that we are twin brother and sister."   


	4. The Secret

 GW fanfiction part 4 Chapter 4: The Secret 

         Wufei let go of her and quickly moved away, "There is no way that can be true."

            Jade stood wobbling a little, but quickly regaining her balance, "Wanna bet." She threw back her shoulders and stood straight up looking at all in the room and for just a split second Quatre could have sword that the two of them were identical. Her female curves and long hair that now fell only to the bottom of her shoulder blades was the only thing that distinguished her from her brother. They had the same icy cobalt stare, the same color and texture of hair, and the same fighting abilities. 

            "Well this explains the fighting abilities above all other things." was Trowa's whispered response. Jade move nonchalantly over to the couch and sat down where Wufei had been sitting before. 

            "I guess it does. But then how do you explain the fighting abilities of the other girls who protected you the other night?" she said.

            "Who were they?" Duo asked pulling out a chair turning it backwards and sitting in it the wrong way. His violet eyes searched hers and she said. 

            "I think I will let them tell you."

            "What do you mean by that."

            "What I mean is that my crew are probably already looking for me. They already know who I am with so it is only a matter of time before they figure out where you are. As a matter of fact have you checked your EMail Heero?" Heero moved to his laptop and within minutes had opened his fake account and found a message. "It's from The Dragon?" 

            "I wouldn't open that. It's from Woo. She's got a virus in there that can only be detected by her. She was going to have you open the file and then once it had infected your entire system then it would contact her computer and send her back all of the data. She's been working on it for a while." Jade said a small smile on her face. Heero deleted the message. Wufei went white. "You know Woo?"

                        Jade just gave him a critical look, "Yes I know Woo. She and I met when we were thrown into an OZ prison after the self-destruction of 01 in Siberia. She and I escaped together. We have been practically inseparable since then."

                        "Woo is the Oriental girl from last night right. Then how do you know her Wufei?" Duo said giving him a quizzical look. Wufei seemed to get angry at that remark. "It's really none of your business."

                        "Woo is his sister-in-law." Jade said leaning back in her seat. Wufei shot her a look as if he couldn't believe she just did that. Everyone just sat in shock. "Wufei? Married? Now I know your making this all up." Wufei just shook his head. "I figured telling all of you eventually anyway. I just wish the time would have been up to me, " he shot Jade a nasty look, "But I see things can't go that way. Yes I was married. But I don't plan to go into details." They all knew what that meant. It was just Wufei's nice way of saying "the subject is closed". 

                        "What about the other two?" Duo said trying to extract other information out of her. The idea of company appealed to him. Jade just smile. "If you want to meet them, Duo then I could arrange something. Anyone have any objections to that? I figure it is best this way for all of you to meet one another." She said, quite relaxed. 

                        "So I guess your going to be here for another night?" 

                        "Yep I concluded that your crew doesn't trust me Heero so I don't think they will let me out of their sights."

                        "You've got that right." Wufei muttered. 

                        "Then it's settled. In the mean time Trowa hand me Heero laptop. I have got a system to hack into."

Four days later at a secluded, yet public, area the team of Stars meets their counter parts. 

                        And so the two groups stood facing each other. Woo was in a loose Chinese kimono top with a dragon printed on the front that wound around behind her back. Its blue highlights accented her white shorts. Steph's brown hair floated around her heart-shaped face. Her purple top clung to her chest. The Lily's platinum blonde hair swirled around her china doll features. Her deep green tank top was almost a complete replica of the one Heero used to wear. All of their eyes were glued onto their leader the girl whose brown hair was bound up in a tall ponytail. Jade had borrowed Duo's clothes. In other words a white shirt, which she rolled up to her elbows and a black pair of loose pants. She crossed her arms across her chest shifting her eyes from the Pilots to her crew. "So what happens now?" she asked. 

                        The staring contest between Woo and Wufei resumed. Duo looked hopeful and everyone else of optimistic. "So what are your guy's real names? You said at the club you would introduce yourselves properly later."

                        Jade looked at Steph. She nodded her head and stood up with every ounce of dignity in her body. She now had the stage. " My full name is Stephanie Kushranada but call me Steph for short." Wufei's eyes narrowed and everyone else's eyes widened. Steph knew those stares. "Yes, I am the younger sister to Treize Kushrenda." 

                        Lily took her cue. "You try being the adopted sister to "the Lightening Count" for a day and then imagine doing it everyday for most of your life." Lily smiled. 

                        "Wufei Woo. Call me Woo though. I took the name Wufei for my sister who married Wufei Chang over there," she indicated nodding her head in Wufei's direction," Nataku was the only family I had." 

                        "Why do you still call her that?" Wufei asked angrily.   

                        "Because that is what Meiran was. She took the name of a hero and in term became a hero. And if you think any less of her than that then you dishonor her memory Wufei." She bit back. 

                                                "What would you know about dishonor? Your nothing but trouble and always have been." 

                        "I fought for justice and honor just as Meiran had always taught me. You on the other hand never took up the cause until she was killed. So what kind of man does that make you?"

                        "I didn't fight because I thought no one wins in a war."

                        "Thought? Wufei that thought was right. No one does win in a war. Wars are fought to teach people a lesson. That lesson we must take to heart because people like Nataku died to teach it to us that."

                        "Who are you to talk about learning, honor and war? You were not there fighting for one side or another. You're deceitful. You preach about these things but you have kept a secret from me. That was evident the last time we met. You thought I didn't know, but you never could look an adversary in the eye when you kept something from them. It is the same look you give me now. Tell me what is it that you have kept from me for so long. "

                        "You don't want this out here and now." 

                        "I have wanted a true fight with you for as long as I have known you. You can't give it to me until you tell me this secret." That did it. Woo ran straight at him and plowed him in his side and took off running past him. Wufei got up shouting, "Come back here." and took off after her. 

                        Quatre took off after them. "Don't go after them Quatre. Woo just gave Wufei an official challenge and he just took her up on the offer. Let them work those problems out on their own." She led the way outside of the park and the others simply followed. Duo, who was clearly shaken from what had just gone down, tried to find out more information from the other pilots.               

                        "So you are really Treize's little sister?" Duo said nervously          

                        "That's what I said isn't it." Steph said.       

                        "So how long have you know Lily?" Duo questioned.

                        "Since we were little." Lily answered for her. "You see I was adopted by Zech because he was afraid that someone would question if a man didn't have any family at all. He still wanted to keep his Peacecraft name a secret. So when I was found in an abandon hotel Zech took care of me. He often would leave me with Steph and her family though because he was always gone on missions."

                        "So how is it that you came to know Jade?" Heero asked. They reached the end of the park and slowly made their way to a nearby restaurant. The conversation halted while Quatre arranged for them to be seated outside on the veranda alone. Once they were seated Heero asked again, "How did you meet my sister." 

                        "Well we were actually looking for them. This story goes back to the original war between OZ and the Gundams, the war between Earth and Space. Even before that war Lily and I were already accomplished mobile suit pilots. Both of us were very close to our brothers and their friends, but neither of us enjoyed being in the public eye. Of course we were always there, but we managed to keep a low enough profile to stay out of most of the propaganda. We studied under our brothers and when we weren't serving as mechanics or assistances to them we were improving our mobile suit abilities. I had heard of Jade through my brother Trieze before he was killed in the war. After the final battle with Libra, Lily and I came back to Earth and worked as a private business of investigation. Most of our cases involved countries or colonies that were organizing revolts. When the Preventors couldn't be there, we were there picking up the slack." Steph said with an amused smile on her face. Trowa's face never changed but his smoldering emerald eyes glinted with insult. He had worked hard for the Preventors and was hurt when people said that they hadn't done enough. 

                        "Anyway Steph and I came across critical information while working in the Kai Kingdom. We learned of a plot to kill the royal family by Dawnity. We had planned to go to the authorities for this one but Dawnity got to us first. They destroyed our home and business. They hunted us down and we used all of our influence and contacts to get up into the colonies. Steph remembered Jade from what her brother had said and we came to the decision that we were going to need help for this one. I realize now that then we were more after revenge on Dawnity for what she had done to our lives than we were at saving the king and queen. When we found out where Jade and Woo were we contacted them and arranged a meeting. Little did we know that Dawnity's forces had found out where we were. They shot up our meeting place the 8BallBlack club and we all tried to defend it but we were out numbered, out manned, and out armed in every way. We lost that battle but we got away with our lives. Woo and Jade agreed to help us saved the royal family but by the time we got there it was too late. They had killed the king and queen. We managed to save Kari. Since that day we have protected Kari and basically become a team fighting against Dawnity's forces. We all had a lot in common not to mention we worked well with one another." Lily said. 

                        The gundam pilots sat shocked and stunned. They didn't know what to say. The princess was alive and had been in the hands of these women all of this time. "We also dug into Kari's past too so don't go stupid on us just yet. Kari's mother was your Aunt, Duo. The two of you are cousins." Jade went on to say in a laid back tone of voice. Duo looked as if someone had just knocked the wind out of him. The usually non-stop talker for once was speechless. He blinked several times before he could come up with a coherent response. "How did you... I mean it I didn't know how did you?" 

                        "In the information that Lily and Steph had obtained it also stated the past of Kari's mother. She had found you once when you were living at Maxwell Church but you were happy there and she choose not to remove you from your home. She often visited you as Ms. Clair Martin one of your temporary social workers." Duo's eyes widen. He suddenly remembered and it some how made some sense. Duo's face widened in a gleeful smile. "So when do I get to met the royal side of my family?" 

                        "You and Kari shall be united when we fully trust you." Steph said her voice growing suddenly cold. "Calm down. Steph you must understand that Kari belongs with her family. But she also belongs to our family Duo and you must understand that we would do any thing and everything in our power to keep her out of harms way. She is a part of our family now and let me tell you even if you did mange to get past Steph, Lily, and I, then your going to have to go toe to toe with Woo. She is a mother tiger, a cool, calculated, martial artists with a hard right hook all wrapped up into one." Jade said eying Steph from under her bangs.  

                        "So Princess Kari is with you?" Trowa asked.

                        "Not at this moment. She is staying with a trusted friend. We couldn't take her with us on this mission."

                        "Mission? Jade you are on a mission?" Heero said.

                        "Yes. That night at the 8BallBlack club we were suppose to meet an agent of ours. Basically we were on the same mission as you guys." She said moving her hand indicating all of the Gundam Pilots. Quatre nodded his head and understood that they had a common goals, missions, and skills. There was no reason he could think of as to why they shouldn't become one large team. "We are all too alike. All of us should work together." 

                        Duo nodded his head. Heero contemplated this for a few minutes looked at Jade. Jade nodded her head and they came to an unspoken agreement. Lily and Steph exchanged looks with each other and Quatre and Trowa. "There is only one trouble with this. Woo and Wufei." 


	5. Wufei's Surprise

Chapter 5: Wufei's Surprise

          The clashing of the wooden blades could be heard, but the movement of the two who wielded them was almost undetectable. One of the fighters quickly spun around and stuck his leg out and the other fighter hit the dirt. The other fighter quickly pulled back her feet and before Wufei could bring his blade down to claim mastery she kicked it out of his hand. She put her feet on the ground, arched her back and brought her entire body up onto her feet in a single swift jerk. With her blade in hand she charged for her opponent. Wufei quickly caught both of her wrists and tried to push her back. She held her ground and threw all of her weight in keeping her adversary from getting the upper hand in this fight. Her index finger found a pressure point on the wrist that was holding his weapon. The blade fell from his hands and her other hand, finally free from Wufei's grasp, took a quick swipe at his face. The fist connected and sent him sprawling on the ground. She brought her leg up high and planted her heel on the ground where his chest would have been if he hadn't rolled away. Wufei slid from his position and knocked her on her back. She quickly grabbed one of the wooden blades and Wufei grabbed the other. Both stood up at the same time. Both Woo and Wufei were breathing heavily as they eyed one another. 

            This was Woo's sanctuary and practice ground. Here her fighting skills had been sharpened and improved with constant practice. She had always known since that day Merian died that she would have to fight Wufei. She had never told him the truth and he had always known that she held a secret from him. As she had run there she had cried a single solitary tear. It brushed off of her eye and was carried away in the wind. She cried for her sister, the secret she kept, and the friends who had always looked on her with honor. She cared for them all deeply, but didn't deserve their kindness and certainly not their honor and respect. How could they have ever loved her knowing the secret she kept from him?

            He had followed her to her training ground and had engaged in a battle with her. To her she couldn't lose. She had promised her sister never to tell. If she lost this battle she would have to give him Nataku's secret that she had kept safe all of the years she had been gone. Natuaku and made her promise the night before she died never to tell Wufei. But now he was here, trying to stare her down. She lunged for him and he quickly dove out of the way. He flicked his wrist and caught her up under the chin with his sword. He held it just had Treize had so many years ago. She slowly stood knowing she had been defeated. Her body was covered in bruises. Her hands, knees, and elbows were covered in green from where she had hit the ground. She clothes were torn in multiple places and her hair was in disarray. He knew that he was probably in just as bad condition as she was. "What was the secret she told you?" he demanded to her. Her mouth remained fearlessly quiet. He put his foot behind her and edged the sword closer to her throat. To avoid getting her throat sliced she tried to move, but simply tripped over his foot. She was on her back staring at the boy above her who held his blade warningly at her throat. This time he asked more harshly, "What was the secret Woo." Her eyes narrowed and she shot out her legs and made him fall. She rolled over and straddled Wufei's torso and held his arms to his side. Wufei was stunned at the enraged face that hovered over his. "Then so be it Wufei. You have pushed me too far this time. Wufei, Merian was pregnant when she was killed. You left on the Gundam so quickly that I never got the chance to tell you. Later, I choose to keep the secret from you because the test results showed that the child Woo was carrying wasn't yours." she spit out ferociously. She rolled off of him and stared at the sky. 

"Woo, I knew that Merian wasn't in love with me. That is why I told her to follow her heart. I was the first to know that she didn't love me, but was in love with another man. She was a sister to me just as she was to you. Her death still hurts me for I have lost a dear friend who taught me about justice." He said rolling on to his side. "Still she never told me she was pregnant."   Woo stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "I thought that you didn't know. I thought that if I told you her name would be dishonored because she wasn't faithful." Wufei just smiled. "She fought me one day and she lost. She told me that she didn't love me the way a wife should and I understood. Since that day she and I were brother and sister to one another and husband and wife to the outside world. I didn't care because I knew I didn't love her that way either. Later, when we were older we were going to arrange an appeal to our arranged marriage. Then we would have been free to do what ever we wanted with our live. That day never came for her." He said sadly.

Woo shook her head not believing what she was hearing. They had only been friends and Wufei had known she had loved another. It was impossible. But then again she thought Merian hadn't taken the arrangement of her marriage easily and it made sense to Woo that she would have fought to be with the one she loved. It was something her spirit would have demanded she do. And Merian always had listened with her heart not her head. "I thought you would have ruined her name." Wufei stood and offered her his hand. She took it. "Woo, your sister followed her heart. There is no reason she should be punished for that."  The two stood facing one another. 

"We need to get back. Jade told me where she was going to take us in her Email and it isn't far from here." She said making her way out of the temple courtyard. She swung up into the nearest tree branch. "So what do we do now? Allies?" She questioned to him from her crouching position on the tree limb. She held out her hand. "Allies." He confirmed, grabbing her hand and swinging himself up onto the tree limb. They quickly and quietly made their way to the restaurant and arrived in just enough time to hear Trowa say, "There is only one trouble with this. Woo and Wufei." 

                        "Trowa there is to be no trouble. Woo and I have come to an agreement." Wufei said swinging down onto the veranda. Woo simply allowed her feet to dangle from the limb. Heero eyed the two. "Have all of your arrangements been taken care of Woo?" Jade asked. Woo nodded her head and Jade did the same. 

                        "What about you Jade? Have you told them everything?" Woo asked. Jade shook her head. "No, they still don't know where Kari's hidden or about Operation Star Sisters." Woo nodded her head. 

                        "Jade what is Operation Star Sisters?" Duo asked.

                        "Operation Star Sister is" She began, but was cut off by a hand that wrapped itself around her mouth.  The figure just seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. But it didn't matter. Everyone recognized the long platinum blonde head. Heero was on his feet in an instant along with the rest of the pilots. The females on the other hand remained seated. Heero had his gun out and pointed at Zech's head and giving him a Yuy death glare from hell. Jade seemed relaxed and she brought her hand up to his wrist and in a second had him on the ground. She smiled. "So you came to bring me the other half of the key card I hope," she looked over at her brother, "Heero, Quatre, Trowa, Duo, and Wufei would all of you please calm yourselves. I was expecting him anyway." Heero looked angry, but sat down staring at Zechs as he made his way across the room to drop a kiss on his sister's forehead. Lily smiled and Zech plopped down into the seat next to her. "Why is he here." Heero asked icily. "Zech is one of my most trusted spies Heero." Jade said calmly. "But I would still like to know what the big idea was with you shooting me the other night." Jade said. Zechs looked guilty for a moment then said, "They were starting to question my loyalty. I have been spending a lot of time researching you guys up in head quarters and I have nothing to show for it. They are beginning to suspect that I am one of your spies. So the other night I loaded up my gun with that bullet intent on shooting you. I figured you got the point when I sent you the encrypted message about me being in a rush Jade." 

                        "Yeah I knew something bad was going down and it involved the Assails. Oh well it doesn't really matter. I am all right and I have half of the microchip for the keycard. The other half, I am guessing you, have."

                        "Hold up a second." Duo said, "Just answer me this. What keycard? Why would you tip the bullet with Nightmare Shade? And when did you find the other half of a microchip?" 

                        "Duo I am surprised you don't know!" Steph said. "Nightmare Shade tipped bullets are used by the higher ups in the Assails. It's also given to anybody that work on breaking up the underground spies." 

                        "The keycard we are referring to is a way to get pass the inner doors of a base not to far from here that happens to have information on Kari's whereabouts and on us." she said indicating with her hand that she was talking about the girls. "We were planning to bust into the place and take the information so they don't have it. Your last question is the bullet. The bullet I took for Quatre was in reality was intended for me. Inside that bullet was half of the microchip that Zechs was going to drop off to us that night in the club."  She stretched out her hand to Zechs and in her palm was a small microchip. Zechs dropped another microchip in her hand and she quickly pieced the two together. Lily tossed a small piece of plastic on the table in front of Jade and she opened the credit card looking keycard and implanted the microchip. She produced the keycard in a matter of seconds. She held it between her index and middle finger. "This keycard is our entrance into the inner base of the Assails headquarters. We are going to hit the base tonight. So what do you guys say," she said looking at Heero," are you up to the challenge?"

                        "So we were all after the same thing all along. I'm in." Duo said.

                        "So it seems Maxwell. Sure, I'm in too." Trowa said.

                        "I wouldn't miss it for the world." Quatre exclaimed.

                        "We are allies united under a common cause. So there is no reason we shouldn't join forces." Wufei said leaning back in his chair.

                        "Mission accepted." Heero uttered. 

                        Zechs stood up and made his way towards the door. "What do you plan to do Zechs?" Jade asked. Zechs turned to look at her. 

                        "I am leaving the Assails so I am no longer your spy. I will speak to all of you again, but for right now I need to get the Assails off my back and I would be too much of a liability for all of you. Good bye and good luck." 

                        "Ditto." she said as he walked out the door. "We hit the base at 2:00 A.M. tonight. Here are the plans."  


	6. First Mission Complete

Chapter 6: First Mission Complete

          _The sound of ripping cloth, and the girl's useless, pitiful, cries and protests could be heard. The next thing she knew Heero had broken down the door to the hotel room. He shot two of the men instantly. Blood poured out of the open gashes in their temples. Both lay dead. Her small, young, body was beaten and battered with multiple bruises and gashes to her face and her yet to have developed chest, as her pained glazed eyes locked with her brother's.  She tried to whisper the words help, but before her mouth could respond the man, who's body had been stretched out over hers, fell bloodied and dead next to her. At that point she passed out to the feeling of her brother lifting her up and holding her close telling her that everything was all right and that never again would the mission go awry. The police began pounding on the door trying to get in to investigate the sounds of gunfire. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pound. _Pound."Jade! Jade! Jade wake up!" the sound of Lily's voice and the knocking on her door woke Jade out of her slumber. "Damnit." she grumbled and rolled out of her bed to answer the door. "Yes Lily?" she asked somewhat irritably poking her head outside her door. "Drop time is in two hours. We have to meet the boys in one." She turned her heels and left after that. Mentally, Jade groaned. "Lily thanks." She closed her door and leaned her back against it. She rubbed her forehead with the pads of her fingers. "Tormented by your own mind," she said out loud. She shook her trying to clear it and headed for the shower. 

Exactly fifteen minutes later she emerged from the shower and threw on a pair of leather pants and a white t-shirt. She pulled her hair back away from her face and twisted it up and snapped it in place with a claw. She still was trying to get used to the shortness of her hair. But she had to admit it was easier to move her head now. She smiled for a moment and then made her way out her door. In the living room the other girls were dressed normally except for Steph. She was in daisy dukes that clung to her butt and legs. She wore the top of a string bikini that was a size too small. She had on boots and her hair had been let down. She looked pretty pissed. "Yeah just give me the whore part of this mission," she grumbled angrily as she moved to grab her long black coat, which would hide her entire body from view. They all moved out the door and quietly made there way to the park. "Look Steph it won't just be you. Duo agreed to dress in drag for this mission just in case the guard has a preference for the male sex." Lily said quietly to her. Steph fumed silently. 

They only had to wait a couple of minutes until the other half of the team arrived in an old junky van. Not surprisingly Duo was completely covered in a black jacket and didn't look too happy. The girls all jumped inside the van and made themselves comfortable. Wufei drove to the northern pole of the colony. They drove for forty minutes and then hopped out and began to walk. Soon they reached the base. The first thing to do was getting rid of the outer guards on the Southeast Entrance. 

"You know guys I don't think this is a very smart idea." Duo began. "Look we don't want to kill them. The gunshots would be detected and if we did it the other way it would take too long." Wufei whispered. Duo groaned. Steph looked angrily at Jade. "I am so getting you back." Jade just smile pleasantly. Steph looked at Duo. "Shall we?" They both moved out of view to the guard post a few feet around the bend. They all heard a whistle and a "Darlin'" and then two thuds. The next thing they saw was Steph and Duo dragging the two unconscious guards around the corner and into the wooded area while the others came out of hiding. They all went to the Southeast Entrance and, Steph took the keycard she had took off the knocked out guard, swiped its through the card reader to unlock the gate. Steph and Duo had taken the guards' uniforms and had changed their cloths. They all split up. Wufei went with Woo, Quatre went with Steph and Lily. Trowa, Jade, Heero and Duo all headed toward the other end of the compound. The computer they needed to access was near the Southeast entrance but it had a laser security system that couldn't be deactivated in the Southeast area. Basically you had to shut down the power controls in the other areas of the compound before they could get into the computer system. 

            Jade quietly inched around the corner and spotted three more guards. She signaled to Heero, and Trowa and nodded to Duo on her left. In a few seconds the guards were on the ground knocked out by ether inhalation. They came to the first laser system. In a few seconds Jade's small pager vibrated and the laser system was shut down. They turned the corner and found the second system also shut down. Jade swiped the key card and Heero went straight for the computer, while Trowa guarded the door, Duo assembled the explosion and Jade stood over her brother helping him. In a few minutes the information had been downloaded and the bomb assembled and they all quietly made their way through the ventilation system to a large janitor's closet. The others where there waiting on them. Woo had a scratch on her left cheek and she told them there had been a fight but Wufei had gotten the guy down before he made a sound. Duo smiled, "Everyone ready for the real party?" he asked. Duo pressed the detonation switch and the entire base rang, shook, and jolted. The explosion was massive and rocked everyone and everything. Steph and Duo put hand cuffs on the rest of them and in the mass flood they told all of the officers they ran into that they were the new guards and that they were trying to get the war prisoners out of the building. No one looked to closely in the panic and they were all able to get out of the base safely and they were able to slip away unnoticed into the crowd and back to the van. 

"My god that was amazing!" Lily shouted once they were all back inside the van safely.

"I can't believe those stupid officers thought we were prisoners!" Quatre remarked.

"Hey um Steph do you think you could take my cuffs off now?" Jade looked at her pleadingly.

"No way I told you I was going to get you back!" Steph said from the front seat. 

"Never worry I can get them off." Duo said to Jade. And true to his word in a few seconds her wrists were not confined to the cuff any longer. Heero remained silent all the way back to the guy's safe house. Jade saying that she didn't feel well went into Heero's room to catch up on some sleep and the others stayed out into the living room and talked about their families and people they had met and what was in store for them now. Heero on the other hand remained quiet throughout most of the conversation. He seemed content in staring at the door that lead into his bedroom and he could only imagine the tortured soul that was crying herself to sleep just a few feet away from him.  


	7. Family Reunion

GWStarlightSisters7

Chapter 7: Family Reunion 

            Early the next morning multiple bodies could be seen sprawling over the couch, the floor, and the chair. There was also the dull taping of the laptop and a Jade wide awake staring at the screen. Forest green eyes fluttered and opened just as she shut the computer and lifted a mug to her lips. He exhaled loudly and she opened her eyes and looked at him over the rim. Her eyes had a tint of red to them and Trowa questioned as to whether this girl would allow herself to cry. She got up from the leather seat and nodded her head toward a pot of coffee on the kitchen table. He unfolded his legs and nodded as he maneuvered his legs over the bodies sprawled everywhere. She smiled at his efforts and handed him a mug as a sort of reward and sat down at the kitchen table. Trowa followed suit and they remained like that for a long time, just enjoying the quiet company of one another's presence. Jade was reaching for another cup of coffee when Trowa in a quiet voice so he wouldn't wake any of the others questioned, " What happened to you and Heero as children?" 

            She looked at him quietly and took another drink of her coffee before answering, "Constant beatings, test missions, abuse of every kind, and a bond created between the two of us that even though he thought me for dead never died." she smiled despite the horrible memories. "Heero was giving to an assassin named Odin when we were just infants. I was immediately handed over to Dr. J. From what Dr. J told me, he and Odin were in it together from the beginning. Odin knowing that his time was short went on a mission with Heero and purposely got himself killed. After that Heero was intercepted by Dr. J in an ally way and was asked if he wanted to become a mobile suit pilot.  Heero made the choice because of something Odin said to him when he died."

            She took another drink of her coffee and looked at Trowa, "What about you?" 

            Trowa shrugged his shoulder, "Orphaned when I was really little and was picked up by a wandering band of mercenaries. I know I am from the colony cluster L3 but that is about the extent of it." Jade nodded understandingly as he told his tale with very little emotion in his voice. 

            She tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder and the sun caught it making the strands seem to dance and sparkle in the sun. Trowa just stared at her hair enthralled by the strands that seemed to have taken on a life of their own. Suddenly, Duo could be heard grunting and groaning and a liquor bottle rolled into sight. Trowa just stared at the sight and Jade smiled. "So just how we suppose to wake them up?" Trowa asked knowing that she had probably been up for sometime planning their next move. Jade took on a devious grin and slowly stood up. Trowa followed her movement with her eyes as the young girl walked over to the couch where Woo, Wufei, and Heero had somehow all managed to fall asleep on. She stooped down to her brother and began to sing softly into his ear, "Brother your safe now and safe may you stay. For I have a prayer just for you. Grow my own brother, come back someday. Come and deliver me too." Heero's eyes began to flutter and he groaned and began to turn and toss. Wufei got hit in the eyes by Heero's foot and he reached out and tried to smack it away but instead it hit Woo. Woo in turn rolled over trying to get away from Wufei's flying hand and rolled off the couch onto Duo who promptly screamed waking everyone. Jade smiled at Trowa whose eyes had just taken on a sparkle and it looked like he was amused. Jade kicked the liquor bottle way and said to Steph who was looking up at her after being awakened by Duo's loud scream, "Time to rise and shine because we've got things to do." Step just shook her light brown hair and banged her head lightly on the floor. "Next time Duo pulls out a bottle without a label remind me never to take a drink of the stuff." Jade turned and walked out the door. She came back a few seconds later with five duffel bags. "I was up really early this morning and I already cleared out our safe house." She said as she handed each of the girls a duffel bag. 

Stephanie had pulled herself off the floor and Duo was rubbing his sore back and glaring at Woo who was trying to apologize to him. Lily was leaning her back against the wall observing everyone and rummaging through her bag. She looked up at Trowa. "Hey can I use your room for a second?" Trowa nodded and Lily made her way toward Trowa room dragging her bag behind her. Quatre looked over at Stephanie. "You can use mine Steph if you want." She smiled at him, "Hey thanks." Woo just stood up saying, "Ok Wufei I'll use yours then." Wufei was about to argue when Trowa handed him and mug of coffee that took his attention away from Woo. Jade pulled her shoulder length hair back into a ponytail and handed her brother a bottled water. "Didn't figure you drank coffee." He nodded his head and took the water, getting up from his seat. Duo was fumbling with the tie of his braid. "Duo you need help with that?" Jade asked. He looked up to find her standing there with a brush. He nodded and she sat down on the couch and undid the tie of his hair. His hair was long, shiny, and reminded her so much of the hair she had once valued. She began brushing his hair while the others began making toast for breakfast or finished up their coffee. She was just finishing with the braid when Wufei asked, "So what are we to do today?" 

            Heero looked over at Jade. She sensed his look and put the tie in Duo's hair while saying, "We are headed over to colony VNT34667 and pick up Kari and a few supplies. After that it's up to you." Duo got up from the floor and grabbed a coffee mug downing it in a few seconds. The girls emerged from the multiple rooms and began eating breakfast and cleaning the house while the guys got their things together. In a few hours the place what spotless and a van could be seen pulling away from it. They made it to the shuttle and made it to colony VNT34667 with no strange events happening. They touched down and the misfit group made their way out of the shuttle and headed off into the direction of Heldi's house. Duo began chewing on the end of his braid clearly nervous. "Hey guys while we are on this colony maybe we could stop by and see Heldi." Heero turned around and looked at Duo for a second. "Heldi lives on this colony?" Duo nodded. The girls smiled at one another clearly loving the inside joke that they shared. "Jade just who has Kari right now?" Heero asked her. Jade turned around with her duffel bag slung over her one shoulder and began walking backwards saying, "Heldi." Quatre simply shook his head. "Is there anyone we know that she doesn't." 

            A pretty two-story house came into view just around this time. It didn't have much of a front yard and was built of red brick. Woo dropped her bag and ran up to the house and unlocked the door with the biggest grin on her face. Stephanie and Lily followed after her. The boys and Jade walked into the house quietly. "Kari! Heldi! Hey we're here! And we've brought some friends! Kari!" Woo began yelling happily. Lily began looking around, "Hey where are they?" Stephanie had pulled out her gun. "Guys this isn't right. Look." She said pointing to the mud stains on the floor and a deep gash on the wall. Heero pulled out his gun and pointed it the ground and motioned to the guys to spread out. Jade and Stephanie quietly moved up the stairs and the other's began to systematically search the bottom floor. Woo and Duo searched the basement. The two quietly made their way down the creaking steps. Woo hit the basement wall with her knuckles. "What are you doing?" Duo asked. 

            "Heldi told me that she had put in a hidden closet somewhere in the house but wouldn't tell us where it was. If the A's had broken into the house I think that is where she would have gone with Kari." The last of her words broke into a choke. "I won't ever forgive myself if something happened to her." Duo patted her arm and nodded. "Heldi's smart. I'm sure their ok." Just as he was saying this he tripped over a piece of unleveled dirt on the floor. "Ouch!" He began to rub his sore backside. Woo put her fingers to his lips to quiet him. "Listen." A small girl's sniffles could be heard directly underneath them. They began clawing at the earth until a wooden box appeared. They tore off the top of it and there was Kari crying with a passed out Heldi holding her close. Woo pulled out Kari and held the crying girl close. Duo pulled out Heldi and began CPR. In a few minutes Heldi opened her eyes and began breathing normally. "Duo? What are you doing here? Kari! Where's Kari! They, they buried us! Oh my god Duo!" Heldi burst into sobbing while Duo, who had never seen her cry before, held her close. "Woo why would they bury them alive?" Woo shook her head. "I don't know Duo." Woo moved up to the top of the steps and yelled up, "Found!" In a few seconds the basement was full of people. Duo had calmed Heldi down and Wufei, Heero and Trowa were inspecting the coffin. Woo sat on the steps with a sniveling Kari. Jade, Stephanie and Lily where inspecting the rest of the basement. "I don't understand. Why would they try to bury them alive? Why not just take them to a nearby base and drill them for information?" 

            "Because they had been drilling us for information for days in this house." Heldi's head went down and she couldn't look into the eyes of any one in the room. "They used the truth serum on me." She hid her face into her hands, "I had to tell them everything I knew." She began to sob. Jade's head went down and she sighed heavily. "They know everything?" Heldi nodded her head. Woo held Kari closer. Stephanie and Lily made eye contact over Trowa's head. Jade walked over to Heldi and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. It's alright. What really matters is that you and Kari are safe. For now." 

            Heldi looked up. "What do you mean 'for now'?" Jade sighed, "While Steph and I were looking around upstairs we found a bomb. Steph deactivated it, but I think this house is being watched. They are probably on their way here as we speak. We have to go, now." At that Duo helped her up, slinging one of her arms around his shoulder and Woo stood up hugging Kari to her chest. They all quickly to made their way up the stairs and out the sliding glass back door. They all hopped the back brick fence and ran into a local park. The sounds of police and military cars could be heard coming closer to the house. They weren't at their fastest with Kari and Heldi but they quickly made their way out of the local park. "Wufei hold her for me" Duo slipped Heldi's arm over Wufei's shoulder while Duo quickly hot wired a car. Woo hand already handed Kari to Steph as she did the same. All of them jumped into the cars and took off down the street in two separate directions. 

            "Where are we going?" Trowa asked in the back seat of a wired Monte Carlo with a stressed Oriental girl behind the wheel. "We are headed toward the South Axis of this colony where we stashed some very important equipment."

            "Just where did you learn to hot wire a car Woo?" Asked Wufei from right beside her. "Are you complaining Chang?" Wufei simply shrugged and kept an eye out for the military police as they sped off toward the South Axis.

            "Just where are we going?" Duo asked to Jade. Jade smoothly turned the steering wheel, "The South Axis of this colony. We've got things to pick up there." Stephanie held Kari on her lap and she stared at Duo weirdly. "I know you," she said pointing at Duo. Duo looked at the kid as if seeing her for the first time. "You're my cousin, my mommy told me so." She said smiling. Duo smiled and held out his arms to the little girl. She squirmed and Stephanie reluctantly released her. She jumped into Duo's arms and cuddled against his chest. "She told me you would protect me." Duo held her close. "Names Duo. I might run, I might hide, but I never tell a lie." Kari giggled. "Can I change my name to Triple since your Duo?" Duo's eyes lighted up as she say this. "Sure kid." Steph smiled and crossed her arms. 

            The two cars reached the axis at about the same time. Lily, Wufei, Woo, Trowa, and Heldi stepped out of the Monte Carlo, while Jade, Kari being held by Duo, Steph, Quatre, and Heero all got out of the Benize. Duo slapped the top of the Benize with his free hand, "Riding around in style man." 

"Come on! We haven't got much time. This way!" Lily was already beginning to make her way through the crowded woods that provided enough oxygen for the entire colony. They all crashed into the woods and spent a good hour in the woods before they stopped at a large oak tree. Jade turned to the girls who were surrounding her. "Ok Woo you take Duo and Kari, Quatre and Heldi you go with Stephanie, Heero you and Wufei are going to go with Lily and I'll take Trowa." 

            "Whoa wait a second. Why are you sending Mr. Justice and Mr. Perfect Soldier with me?" Lily asked.

"Because of all of us you are the worst at this." Stephanie said. Lily scowled, but nodded in agreement. 

"Ok break," Jade motioned for Trowa to follow her and the others all split up in according to the orders they had been given. 

            _Man this girl is fast! _Trowa could hardly believe how fast she was moving. Night was descending and she looked like a shadow. He couldn't see her but he could hear her and he followed the sounds she was making. Soon they came to a clearing in the woods and there inside the shadows looked like an enormous hill. Jade appeared beside him and she motioned for him to give her a hand. She headed over to the hill and began removing the soil with her hands. Trowa came up closer to get a better look at what she was doing and saw a glass blue eye staring at him from under the patch of soil she had just ripped up. He frowned and began helping her clear away the brush nearest to the ground. "Ok," she whispered to him. "I need you to hold up this pile of brush so I can get inside and get Starlight up." Trowa frowned, but did as she requested. She gripped a smooth metal handle and a hatch opened up and she slid in side ways into the machine. The hatch began to close as she said to him, "Ok step back alright." The hatch closed and Trowa walked to the edge of the clearing. Lights began flashing from underneath the soil and the sound of the booster engine starting up filled the air. The soil shifted, moved and fell away as a large gundam began to appear from underneath the dirt and brush. 

The muddy, brown earth clung to the chrome of the gundam, but Trowa made out the colors of dark cobalt blue and silver. The air kicked up the dirt as it began rising into the air. Trowa covered his eyes with his arm as it settled back down on the ground. The hatch opened again and Jade dropped down the wire latter. Trowa ran to it and it began to take him up to the opening in the monster. "Ok Trowa this is going to be a really tight squeeze because of all of the compartments mine is the smallest. But if you think you can fit on that," she pointed to a console that looked like it was busted from a former battle with exposed wires and plastic buttons busted out of place right next to her. Trowa nodded silently and slid past her. "I'm sorry there isn't a safety belt for you." She said sadly as Trowa bent his head in an awkward angle to be able to fit on the console without his head hitting the top of the cockpit.  

            "Why do it look like a disaster area in here?" He asked. She punched a couple of the buttons on the console in front of her saying, "Because I have been having some problems when I have been trying to up grade Light to Starlight. We've tried to run tests on it but every time I get into the cockpit.....lets just say I can't handle the new program." She wouldn't meet his eyes and he didn't press the conversation. She loosely maneuvered the controls and pressed a couple of buttons on the screen and the sounds of metal, electricity, pressure release pumps could be heard as the machine morphed into another shape. Once the transformation was done and Jade looked out at her screens and breathed deeply and exhaling loudly. Trowa had only heard of what Christmas was and what kids must look like when they open their presents on that blessed morning, but looking at the face of Jade at the moment he thought that that was what they must look like. Jade grinning like a kid in a candy store smoothly maneuvered the controls again and flew that shuttle toward the docking station, which was the closest way out of that colony. 

            "This is tower. StarclassMS43358 originally from the Kai Kingdom now taking off for flight. Good luck soldier." Jade scowled but responded. "Thank you Roger and take care of yourself. StarclassMS43358 out." With that the large blocks of metal that had been blocking their way were put down to make a runway for them and they were off into the deafness of space. She did a few rollovers smoothly avoiding the large asteroids that happened to be in her way. "Trowa see that busted radio looking walkie talkie behind me?" She said pointing her thumb at a decrepit piece of machinery that was attached to the back of her seat. "Grab it and slowly move the frequency from the lowest to the highest number." She ordered as he gently to the thing. He felt that if he held it to tightly the thing might actually disintegrate in his hand. He slowly and gently moved the frequency button and a loud scratchy sound that resembled a human voice came on the line. 

Jade got them out of the asteroid field and unhooked herself from the seat, slightly adjusting her jeans and loose t-shirt. She cocked her head to the side and seemed to be listening to a sound that Trowa couldn't hear. When Trowa had gone through all of the frequencies she seemed satisfied and rehooked herself into the seat and pressed a couple of button on the control panel above her seat. The three screens showed an array of people. Quatre and a more determined Heldi were scrunched in one seat behind Steph. Duo was bouncing an ecstatically happy Kari in a seat behind Woo. Mr. Justice and Mr. Perfect Soldier were sitting on the busted up consoles on either side of a disgruntled looking Lily. 

            Jade sadly shook her head and sighed unhappily. For the first time ever She looked as if she was lost. She closed her eyes and hung her head down, with her hands griping the controls so tightly they were turning white. "I don't know what to do. Heldi divulged to many of our secrets. We can't return to any of our safehouses. All of those months of planning and working." She rubbed her forehead with the pads of her fingers. "I hate to say it, but it looks as if we are going to have to totally depend on you Heero for safety and a place to stay." Heero shrugged his shoulders and all of the girls' faces turned grim at thinking of taking charity from their passengers. 

            But at moments like this always plan on Duo to say the thing to make everyone feel better. "Hey that was some really great work back there though. I mean first off how the hell did you guys get hold of weaponry like this." And with that he tapped the back of Woo's seat indicating the mobile suits. "Are they gundamium? And where did you guys get the classified information to fake security at the spaceport back there?"  

            Jade held up her hand to silence the over enthusiastic pilot. "Yes Duo they are gundam. I made mine from scratch with a little help from the blueprints that Dr. J left behind. That and a beat up old gundamium carrier. And your friend Heldi got us the clearance passed to get by the security." When she was explaining all of this to the braided goof ball Lily was scanning her side screen and nudging Heero to look at something. "Hey. I hate to interrupt social hour Jade, but I think there is someone coming. It looks like a carrier." Lily said. Jade reached behind her and grabbed the beat up old radio and flipped on the frequency. She frowned concentrating. "I don't know. Whoever it is they are trying to contact us. They know we are here. Weaponry? What kind of weaponry do they have Woo?" 

            "None." 

            "Speed Steph." 

            "Looks like we could out run them if need be."

            "Ok everyone open up communications on visual frequency."

            "Roger." 

            The screen went up. At first the young woman manning the controls of the ship looked normal. But the first thing that caught Trowa's attention was the way she carried herself. Then it was her long cornsilk colored hair. And finally when she looked up into the screen the sparkling blue eyes of Relena former Queen of the World. She manned the controls with a skill that he didn't think possible and by the look on Heero's face he obviously didn't think that she could man any heavy machinery much less a complicated system like a space shuttle. "Oh my fucking god! She ALIVE!" Stephanie more or less screamed the words. Lily's grip tightened around the controls in defense finally seeing her distantly related sister for the first time and not knowing another way to react other than to go into defense. Woo leaned back into her seat and crossing her arms a smile crossing her lips as if telling everyone that she had known all along. Jade seemed to smirk as if sizing up the girl and finding strength in her that she admired. Relena looked confused for a second and then seeing the eyes of Heero she smiled and relaxed. "Noin, Poe, and Une are on board in the bowels of the ship. They have been working extremely long hours and I insisted that they rest. Who are all of these people and what are you doing in these machines?" 

            "First of all Princess I want to know how you knew where we were?" Jade said offhandedly. 

            Relena focused her attention onto Jade. Her eyebrows came together and her eyes shifted for a second back to Heero as if she were comparing the two. She quickly turned back to Jade, "We picked up an old type of frequency coming from an old radio or walkie talkie. We traced them to you guys and well it's not every day you run across weapons of mass destruction made of gundanium aloe. The only people I have ever known in theses things I have known that I could trust. I thought you might be them." She said waving her hand at Heero and the others. Jade leaned back in her seat and she brought up the walkie-talkie that was still in her hand. "This walkie talkie I use to listen into other frequency so I know if I am being followed by enemy forces. It's a very old type of machinery and because it is so outdated there are no longer any ships installed with the system to track it. Or so I thought." 

            "Relena let us board. We're tired and need to rest also. Plus we in to update everyone on our new allies." Heero said coolly. They maneuvered their mobile suits and Relena let down the hatch. Each one orderly landed and docked. Relena, Poe, Noin, and Une all rushed out to greet them once the oxygen had been restored to the room. The hatches were let down and each one of them either climbed down, jumped down, or were lowered down by the cable. Noin leaned against the railing, Une standing straight up in her green pants suit, while Relena and Poe greeted the guys telling them how happy they were to find them alive and well. All of a sudden it went quiet as the Jade and Steph jumped out of their gundams and Woo and Lily slowly descended to the floor on their cables. Lily turned a small shade a crimson has she waved to Noin. "Hi Noin. Um hows it going?" Noin's face went white and she walked over to the young girl placing a hand on either of her shoulders. "I thought you were dead Lily." She said happily. Lily smiled and wrapped her arms around the older woman giving her a big hug. "Yeah and Zechs says he misses you too." Noin smiled and hugged the young woman. 

            Une had walked in front of Steph. "Miss Stephanie." She greeted her formally. Steph snapped to a military position and saluted. "Colonel Une. It is good to see you are well commander." 

Une smiled. "As you were. It's good to see your well Stephanie. Your cousin and niece are both well and taken care of though they both miss you." Stephanie nodded, "Thank you for taking care of them for me." 

            "Not a problem." She replied smiling. "And you may call me Lady Une from now on?" Steph smiled and nodded. 

            A that moment a mass ball of brown hair energy jumped away from Duo and went running into the former Queen of the World slamming her to the ground. "Relena!" Kari squealed hugging her tightly. "Kari?" Relena sat up stunned and held the child up from under her armpits. "Kari what in the world are you doing here. And who are you people?" She said looking at Jade. Jade had remained leaning up against her gundam Starlight with foot planted on the crome of the metal. Jade looked up slowly staring straight up into the sky blue eyes of Relena. For a second molten fire cobalt blue clashed with sparkling sky blue. Jade smiled closed her eyes and pushed away from her gundam with her foot planting it firmly on the ground and walked purposely toward Relena. She held out her hand to the girl. Relena took it and Jade helped her up saying, "What you should really be questioning is what we are doing with two ton pieces of machinery that can blow up entire continents in an instant."  


	8. Gone into the Darkness of Space

Starlight Sisters

Chapter Eight: Gone into the Darkness of Space

Relena stared at her blankly for a second and then seem to regain her composure. She removed her hand from Jade's and took a step back to put some distance between her and the pilot. "Yes that is a good question. But not half as important as this one. Are you friend or foe? What do you plan on doing with these Gundam?" She demanded staring at Jade, her eyebrows drawing together. Kari clutched at Relena's leg and Relena dropped a hand to the girl's shoulders. Jade smiled and turned back to Starlight and her crew. "I am Heero' sister. I will fight beside my brother." Relena's eyes went wide for a moment then back to her normal gaze as she turned to Heero. Heero nodded confirming what Jade had just said. Jade was walking back to Starlight when Relena bent down and lifted Kari up. She held her up by her armpits inspecting her and then hugged her. "Kari I am so glad to see you are alive." Kari wrapped her arms around Relena and hugged her. "Yeah they've been taking care of me Relena. I was so sad about your disappearance but Jade said you would be alright." Relena smiled at her. "Did she really?" Relena set Kari down and walked over to where Jade was giving instructions to the pilots.

            "Ok Lily good work. If you can survive those two you can survive anything the A's will throw at you.  Steph, Woo good work with the analysis of their speed and statistical though I think that we could probably do a systematical check. They were too close before we registered their presences." Jade looked to her side where Relena had appeared holding Kari and had nodded. "Relena are their any mechanics on this ship?"   Relena nodded and pointed to the door where a few men were entering looking tired and wore. Jade's eyes softened when they hit the weary workers. She turned back to her crew. "First we are going to answer any of the princess's questions and then we are coming back down here and helping these guys with our mobile suits." Everyone nodded and after giving the mechanics a few minor instructions they all headed to the deck of the ship where the ship's captain had taken over the command of the ship. Relena introduced them. "Everyone this is Captain Petrolli." The middle aged, slightly balding man with brown eyes gave them all a warm smile before turning back to his controls. His hair looked like it had once been black but was now beginning to show age with white strands beginning to peek through. 

            So there they stood. Relena stood straight and still her blonde hair up in a makeshift ponytail with a jean jacket thrown over her white shirt and black pants. She motioned toward the other seats indicating for the others to sit down. Woo sat up on a railing, while Lilly, Steph, and Jade all sat down on the chairs. Duo was carrying Kari on his back while Noin, Une and Poe stood either leaning against a wall or standing up. Heero leaned against a wall, Quatre sat down next to Relena, Trowa and Wufei sat on either side of Woo on the railing. Relena exhaled slightly seeming to gain control on herself and then focused her attention on Jade. "Would you mind if I asked all of your names?" Jade nodded and waved her hand to either side of her where her two fellow pilots had sat down. "This is Stephanie Kushranada and Lily Marquise. That is Wufei Woo, and I am Jade Yuy by code name." Relena's eyes lingered on Lily for a moment longer than need and Noin spoke up. "Zechs and I found Lily in an abandoned hotel when she was only a little girl. She remind him of you and he took her in and adopted her calling her his little sister so that people wouldn't question him because he didn't have any family." Lily's eyes were firmly planted on the floor and Relena smiled and nodded her head and looked to Stephanie. "Marimaya is your niece and Dorothy is your cousin I am guessing." Steph nodded her head and looked straight into the eyes of Relena. "I knew you were alive." Woo's voice came from the railing. "We all did." Said Jade. Relena smiled. Woo continued. "Kari happens to be a big fan of yours." Kari's head came up and she gave a tired smile to everyone in the room before plopping her head on Duo's shoulder. "How do you know her Relena?" Duo asked. "Kari was the princess of a pacifistic nation. Of course she took lessons at the academy. She was one of the most outspoken of all of her classmates. She and I became good friends." Kari's heavy breathing could be heard and Poe gently took her off of Duo's back. "I'll go take her too my room so she can get some sleep." Woo and Duo followed Poe out of the archway.

            "Is she your sister Wufei?" Relena asked kindly. The former Shenlong pilot shook his head. "Sister-in-law. I was forced into an arranged marriage when I was younger but me wife died defended the colony we lived on. She died in my arms." He said with complete control over his words and emotions. Relena, saddened by the news merely nodded her head, sorry she had asked. 

            "Jade is your name." Une asked slowly. Jade turned to Une with a strange look on her face. She stood up and moved slowly towards Une as the older woman's eyes began to widen. All of a sudden Jade put her arms above her head and made a curvature motion with them. Her stomach began to slide from one side to another and she moved with quick grace in a small circle. Quatre could hear her humming in the back of her throat but he couldn't make out the song. He was enthralled. Her hair swirled around her and her arms became graceful extensions of her body. She was doing an Arabian dance. She moved with a grace that he had first seen when they had met in the club. Her eyes were alive and a smile crossed her lips. She was alive. Then her eyes dimmed and her body stopped. The music coming from her throat stopped and her arms laid flat to her sides. Une was speechless as was everyone else in the room. "Does that answer your question?" Jade asked.

            "What the hell was that Jade?" Steph asked

            "Where did you learn to dance like that?" Lily squealed in excitement.

            "It's you! Your that girl!" Une said in shock.

            Steph turned to Une her face crossed with confusion. "She's what girl? What are you talking about Lady Une?" Une slowly slide down to a seat next to Relena and took several deep breathes before continuing. Jade simply stood there her eyes focusing on something far off in the distance that no one else could see. "After the destruction of 01 in Siberia a prisoner was brought to Mr. Treize during the 12 anniversary of OZ celebration. She was dressed in an Arabian costume and was forced to perform for him. She," Une said pointing at Jade, "was that girl. I remember her eyes and the way her body moved. She danced with more emotion, anger, and passion than I had ever known in my life. I remember that some of the officers began to cry. The man who had brought her there told Treize that she was a prisoner he had bought from a base not too faraway. He told Treize that he was willing to sell the girl to him. Treize bought her." Jade's hands balled into a fist and her knuckles turned white but her eyes and face never expressed anything. Heero moved away from him place on the wall and grabbed her hand. "Is this true?" Jade nodded. "Why? Why didn't you escape?" He asked. She hung her head. "Because Woo had been bought by the same people and she was very weak. I wasn't very well either. I could have escaped but I wasn't going to leave her there. They told me that if I didn't that they would kill her. I convinced Treize to buy Woo off of them." She turned to Heero and looked him straight in the eye. "But Treize let us go. We didn't escape from Treize, he let us go." She said that with amazement in her voice. Heero nodded and dropped her hand. 

            "HEY! WE'VE GOT TROUBLE!" Captain Petrolli began to shout right as they were all thrown to ground by an earth-shattering explosion. Poe, Woo, and Duo who all had just appeared at the archway clutched on to one another. "THE GUNDAMS! GET TO THE GUNDAMS AND SUIT UP FOR SPACE BATTLE!" Jade yelled picking herself up from the ground. Woo, Lily, and Steph all did the same and as Woo took off down the hallway she stopped for a second and roughly pulled Duo to the side. "Look Maxwell I am handing over Kari's safety over to you. If I come back and there is even one scratch on her I will cut off that long braid myself and hang it on my wall as a trophy." Duo's eyes narrowed and he nodded. Woo nodded back and took off running down the hallway to her fellow comrades. The other took their places and certain stations. Heero and Wufei working on manning the lasers on the outside of the ship, Quatre worked on monitoring the battle and getting battle information. Duo took over the piloting because the Captain had been injured. Poe was trying to cleanse his wound and get him into some kind of stable condition. Relena took a seat next to Quatre and to everyone's surprise began calling out battle targets. Trowa, Noin, and Une went down to the hangar with the pilots to help them. 

And yet another battle was fought, not for dominance but for survival.

            "Jade! Watch out! There's another one behind you!" She could hear Relena yelling into her ear and she quickly adjusted the controls and maneuvered four degrees to the right while turning around to face the opponent who attacked her from behind. It was a Leo. She aimed her rifle at him and fired a low powered blast. He was disabled. "We can't find where they are coming from!" She could hear Quatre shouting into the microphone. That was true. The ship where they all seem to be coming from couldn't be found. "DAMN PIRATES!" Lily shouted into her system. They weren't in this battle with A's forces. No, they were in a battle against pirates, the lowest pieces of scum to ever roam space. And unfortunately if they couldn't find their ship then they couldn't win this battle. Jade knew what to do. She gritted her teeth and then typed in ZERO on her screen. "Switching to Zero mode." She said right as the yellow light began to surround her. 

Inside the ship

            "What the hell is she doing!" Heero yelled in shock. Quatre was speechless and his mouth just hung there for a second. "Who the hell would give these girls the fucking Zero system information!" Duo asked to everyone as he tried to dodge the laser beams of the Leos they were attacking. Trowa appeared running through the archway his face smeared with grease and smoke. "What going on! The enemy severed the communications circuit. We haven't heard anything for the last minute or so." There were tears all over his shirt and blood could be seen staining some of material. "Sit down right here and let them fill you in while I bandage you up." Poe said in a voice that meant no arguing just do as I say. Trowa reluctantly sat down and removed his torn shirt so she could have better access to his wounds. "Jade just engaged the Zero system Trowa." Duo called and the sound of another blast hitting the hull could be heard as the sounds of Wufei and Heero's ceaseless firing never stopped. Trowa's eyes widened. "You mean she actually thinks she can handle the system in that busted up thing! She must have been out of her mind." He yelled as he recalled the conversation he had with her. _"Why does it look like a disaster area in here?" He asked. She punched a couple of the buttons on the console in front of her saying, "Because I have been having some problems when I have been trying to up grade Light to Starlight. We've tried to run tests on it but every time I get into the cockpit.....lets just say I can't handle the new program."_ "She can't handle the system." He yelled at them. Quatre tried to communicate with her and the others. "Jade! Lily! Woo! Steph! Come in!" 

Out in the battlefield. 

            "Jade! NO! You can't handle the system! Stop! We'll find another way!" Lily's, Steph's, and Woo's pleas fell on deaf ears as the yellow light began to blind her. It swirled around her. Enveloped her. The world as she knew it for one moment didn't exist in her reality, and she was glad for that one moment of peace. Then, the warm yellow glow turned harsh and bright and the numbers came. Endless numbers. Coordinates. Proportions. Power. She steeled her thoughts. She clamped down on her mind to stop the numbers but something opened her mind again to force them in. The Zero system invaded her mind. And there they were. The flashbacks. The system was sorting through her life, her memories, her past. The past she tried so hard to forget. Dr. J putting his steel hand around her throat. When Dr. J had beaten her within an inch of her life and finally cut off her hair. The time when she had sparred against Heero and he had put the three slices on her stomach with a three bladed dagger. The first time she'd killed someone and felt their life slip through her fingers. The time when the mission when awry and she had been beaten and almost raped by those three guy before feeling their blood spatter onto her body. Heero, holding her, comforting her. When Heero had killed that little girl and her dog. Her, holding him, comforting him. The songs she used to sing. The constant training for stealth, speed, power, and weaponry. The dances she would make up when they were on missions alone doing nothing. The night he went away. The night she would leave too. Heero's self-destruction and her capture. Her friendship with Woo. The fear for Woo during the Arabian dance. The look in Trieze's eye when he bought her. The anger when he touched her. The gratitude when he saved Woo. The confusion when she found Woo with Treize. The release. The building of Light and Hydra. The years of peace. The missions. Steph and Lily, Rose and Moon. Kari. The escape from the burning palace. Heero had lost her. Then he found her again. Family and Friend. And the world stopped. The blinding flash of light overcame her. Then it was gone. Her vision focused and she could see through the stars and darkness. The Zero system had robbed her of her strength but she mustered up what little was left and she plowed at the ship. 

Inside the ship.

"So that's where it was all this time. Smart. Une file that down as something we've got to do to this ship." When Starlight rammed into empty space and an explosion was heard they all understood finally where the pirate ship had been located. It had been right in front of them the entire time. The outside of the ship had been covered in reflecting mirrors so that they could hide right out in the open. But she had found them. The other pilots quickly swarmed the ship and allowed them enough time to evacuate off before they destroyed their ship to pieces. They all came back in. Steph in Rose and Lily in Moon were carrying Jade's Starlight in between them. Hydra followed behind. The air was rushed into the ship. All of the people assembled quickly down into the hangar as the girls gingerly carried her down from the gundam. Sally went to her quickly and Heero kneeled down next to her. Her eyes opened for a moment and focused on Heero. In a hoarse whisper she said, "Tell Zech to quit shooting me with Nightmare Shade bullets." And she fell into the darkness of space, into the back of her mind, where no one could hurt her. And she wondered if this is what it felt like to be dead. 

*well what do ya think! I am so sorry to everyone who likes this story about my delaying to get this chapter out! I was just having some major writers block. And one more thing. If I am spelling any of these guy's names wrong please let me know. I think the lest I could do after borrowing other corporations' characters  is spell their names right. Any way once more I love FEEDBACK! PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE EMAIL ME! This is my first fiction and I hope it really good. And don't worry there is plenty more to come. This is not the last chapter. I repeat this is not the last chapter. But like anyone reads this stuff anyway* Lady Star                 


	9. Confusion and Remembrance

Starlight Sisters 

Chapter 9: Confusion and Remembrance 

            Her eyes were heavy. She could hear the sounds of other people whispering and talking around her. She couldn't lift her eyelids. They were too heavy. She couldn't see. Why were her eyes heavy? Where was she? Who was talking? Where was Dr. J? What were they talking about? She was sinking. She could feel the softness envelop her. Yet it did nothing to calm her. She knew nothing. She couldn't understand. Her sight was gone. She could see nothing with her eyelids being too heavy to lift. Why? Why? She couldn't understand. She was too weak to lift her own eyelids. She was too tired to listen, to hear, and to sense what was going on around her. She didn't and couldn't understand. She let the fuzz and clouds envelop her. She was gone back into the dark abyss of her mind. She went back to Zero.

            "Heero it isn't your fault." Quatre tried to console an aching Heero as he gripped his sister hand. But Heero was past consoling. "She should have been able to sustain the power of the system Quatre. I don't understand. She is barely breathing. I…I…can't understand why. She should have been able to control the system. Why couldn't she control the system Quatre?" He simply shrugged. Noin placed her hand reassuringly on Quatre's shoulder. Sally, Woo, and Wufei were huddled in a corner of the room whispering among themselves. Trowa stood on the other side of the bed next to Relena who was bathing Jade's head with a damp towel. Woo walked softly across the room and opened the door. "Where are you going?" Heero asked her coldly. Woo gave him a sardonic look. "I am leaving to speak with the rest of my comrades, plan what our next move will be, work with Hydra and begins modifications to the space ship. I am also going to give Jade sometime to peacefully rest, which is probably the best thing for her. You can do nothing to help her now except let her get her rest. And that goes for all of you." Woo said looking at everyone in the room. "Jade needs to be watched yes. But all of you in here are doing no good. You should all be working on what Jade sacrificed herself for. She will get better." She turned and before leaving the room she called out over her shoulder, "After all she is Heero's sister." 

            "Woo's right." Noin admitted while Quatre nodded his head. They both left the room with Wufei, Trowa, and Poe. Relena and Heero stayed by her bedside. Relena stood and walked around to Heero who was seated on the other side of the bed. She placed her arms around his neck from behind and gave him a squeeze before taking his hand and unwrapping it from Jade's. Heero looked at her with lost eyes. She gripped his hand and pulled him up. She dragged him away from Jade's bedside and walked him to his room. She opened his door. "Get some rest Heero or you will be of no use to her." He walked into his room and sat down on his bed. Relena was about to close the door when she heard the faintest whisper, "Thank you," come from him. She looked up not realizing that she had been staring at the floor, smiled and nodded before closing the door. She walked down the hall to Jade's door and closed it. She walked down the hall to her own bedroom and flipped on the television set. From underneath the cover inside of her room a smile spread across Jade's face. 

            Lily was lying on her bed her face buried into her pillow. Steph sat with one leg thrown over an arm of the chair sharpening one of her knives. Woo paced the length of the room cradling a sleeping Kari in her arms. Woo stopped pacing and placed Kari in her bed. Then she motioned to Steph to come out into the hallway. Woo walked to Lily and gently placed her fingertips on her back. Lily's red face appeared and Woo motioned for her to go out into the hallway. The three left the room. They walked to a grand staircase and Woo leaned against a wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Lily sat on one of the steps and Step sat on the banister. They remained that way for a long time in silence. But the silence was broken by Lily's almost sobbing reply, "What are we gonna do now." Lily drew her knees close to her chest and buried her face in her knees. Her back rose and fell as she took shallow breaths to try and calm down and to keep from crying. Woo closed her eyes as he head fell, "I don't know. Jade…….she's never been down this long. She's never……lost control of the system like she did." 

            Steph's face looked off into the distance as she spoke, "We all knew she couldn't control the Zero system entirely but I thought she was getting better. I thought that she was beginning to master it. What happened to her in that cockpit to make her lose control of herself like she did? What happened to put her into a coma?" 

            Woo shook her head, "I don't know. I searched through the data and figures of the Zero system and they all show that after uploading she receive too much information and she started hallucinating. But what hallucination could she have that would put her into a coma? It just doesn't add up. It doesn't make sense. Like Heero said she should have been able to control the system." 

            "But obviously she wasn't able to." Came Trowa's response from the bottom of the stairs. Woo's eyes shifted to his position but her head never moved. Steph acknowledged his presence with a nod in his direction. Lily lifted her tear-stained face for a moment then buried it back into her knees. Duo who had been absent from the house getting food appeared next to Trowa with a towel. He walked up the steps and handed her the towel. She looked up for a second then weakly took the towel wiping off her damp face, "Thank you." She whispered despondently. He nodded. "Where's Kari?" 

            "She's sleeping in the room on my bed." Woo said. "Thank you for taking Kari to town with you. It was a big help." 

            "Don't mention it." He said cheerfully.

            "So what do we do now?" Lily asked.

            "You talk as if Jade is already dead." Came Quatre's voice from the darkness of the hallway. Everyone turned to look at him. His halo of blonde hair stood out from the darkness of the hallway. His aqua eyes shone as he walked out into the dimly lighted banister. "She is going to pull through. Have faith."

            Trowa began walking up the steps. "You go on and prepare to fight this war." He walked past the crowd of people and became lost in the sea of blackness as he continued his walk down the hallway towards his room. Duo followed after him. Quatre gave Lily's shoulder a quick squeeze before also proceeding into the darkness. The three girls sat on and contemplated their next move. 

            One week later

The house was quiet, dark, and lonely. But all of those moods suited Trowa just fine. He laid down in his bed with his back propped up typing away at his computer. Everyone was gone from the house except himself and an unconscious Jade. Duo, Heero, and Kari had been held up at town because of a freak storm they were having. The colony's weather controls had malfunctioned. Duo and Heero chose to stay in town until the problem had been fixed. Trowa smiled one of his rare smiles. He bet Kari and Duo were driving the usually stony Heero up the wall. Everyone else had left for a few days to work on the ship that was docked in a space harbor not too far away. He had asked to stay at the house to work on the designs for his new gundam. They had all agreed because none of them wanted Jade to be home alone in case something would happen. Trowa took another drink of his coffee and had just set it down when he heard the most delicate sound emanating from Jade's room. His eyes narrowed and he brushed aside the laptop to grab his pistol from underneath his pillow. He crept out of his room and made his way softly into the hallway walking silently down to Jade's door. He could hear the familiar pounding of his heart in his ears and the silence had almost become a sound in it's self. The sound of him twisting the knob was almost too loud for him to handle. He let one of his eyes glimpse into the room. What he saw almost made his drop his gun. 

For weeks now not a sound or peep from the girl. He had almost given up hope that she was going to get better. And there she was not just out of bed but dancing nonetheless. There was no light but the shimmer of the full moon into her windows. Her skintight top and loose tie pant gave her the silhouette of an Arabian princess. The only music that accompanied her graceful body movements was that of the wind howling. Yet she danced, eyes closed, arms winding together above her head, her hips moving, as she had done the day on the ship. Her hips slid from one side to the other, then they wove around. Her torso slid from left to right provocatively. She turned slowly and Trowa could see the glimmer of something sharp and metallic. It was a knife with a cord tied around the hilt that fell down her back. Her brown hair looked silver and black at the same time as it swirled around her giving her the contrast of evil and good, power and weakness, warrior and woman. 

NO! She wouldn't. If he wanted someone to dance for him, to make love to him, then why not call on Woo! She wouldn't be his mistress. But she would have to dance for him. No way around it. Trieze had brought the Arabian outfit for tonight. She would have to be his desert flower again. Her sleek, bronze limbs glided into the room. And there he was. Trieze in all of his glory and power weakened by the beauty of a single girl. Woo thought she loved him, but she could never know that he really had no interest in her. He was using Woo to get to her. She knew it, and he knew she knew. But he didn't care. He wanted her. He turned on a sultry song. "Dance Jade." He commanded. She did as he asked. She closed her eyes and pretended she was back in training. Her hips moved from left to right. She let her arms and hands entangle together above her head. She threw her long hair back. The fire from the fireplace warmed her stomach and sweat began to form on her brow. She quickly turned in graceful circles as a tear rolled down her face. Suddenly without warning she could feel Trieze's hands on her shoulders pushing her back. She hit the wall with an almost inaudible thud. His hands moved from her shoulders to her waist and his head moved down and his tongue plundered her mouth.

Trowa watched in fascination as she moved in circle and then slammed herself into a wall. She watched as her head jerked back and up. He heard her scream and reach behind her for the knife. She brought it up and down. The sound like an animal screeched from the inside of her throat. She brought the knife down quickly. She slashed and slashed at the air. Her eyes were still closed. What was she doing? 

She brought down the knife again and this time accidentally sliced part of her arm. She was out of control. He had to stop her. Trowa dropped his gun and busted the door open. Jade hear the sound and turn to face the door and Trowa. She raced at him with the knife completely unaware of what she was doing. She brought it up and down managing to catch Trowa off guard and slice him diagonally across his bare chest. He brought his leg up and kicked her back. She sliced his tie pants down one of the legs but didn't cut his skin. She stumbled back from him and hit the ground hard. She tried to get back up but he pounced on her using his body weight to restrain her body and his hands to restrain her arms. She went crazy. She screamed, bit, and fought back as best she could. But she was no match for Trowa's strength. She tried to kick, she screamed, and shrieked. Trowa could find nothing that he could do to get her to calm down. 

He finally used the only option open to him. He brought back his hand and backhanded her. The force of the blow wasn't enough to rend her unconscious, but enough to wake her up from her nightmare. She looked at him with frighten blue eyes her hair sweaty and clothes damp from the fight. His chest wound streamed blood down on her. She to one look at him and his wound and cringed in anger. She was so disgusted with herself. She screamed one last time. When her anger was out she died down and wrapped her arms around herself and began to cry. 

Trowa was shocked and dumbfounded. He didn't know what to do. He did the only thing he though was right. He picked her up and carried her to her bed. She sobbed apologizes and Trowa whispered that it was ok. He laid her down in her bed and after thinking for a second or two slid under the covers with her. She clung to his chest and sobbed and Trowa held her and comforted her until she finally cried herself to sleep. 

*Ok I have a really good excuse this time for the delay this time! My computer lost all of its memory. Yeah it about killed me to be away from this thing for a month. But thank you for reading and I hope you find it entertaining and I will have another one out in a day or so. Thanks! Lady Star


	10. Rebuilding and the Correction of Past Mi...

Starlight Sisters 

Chapter 10: Rebuilding and the Correction of Past Mistakes

            "Trowa just what in the hell do you think you are doing in bed with my sister!" Heero's livid voice brought her out of her pained filled sleep. She opened her heavy lids to see her brother holding a calm Trowa up against a wall by his neck. Duo was trying to calm Heero down but that wasn't possible. Seeing her brother act so hostile towards someone who had shown her such kindness infuriated her. Jade somersaulted off of the bed and had plowed through her brother causing the perfect soldier to fall flat on his perfect butt. 

            "Heero just what do you think you are doing to your friend! He saved your life when you self destructed and when he goes to show kindness to your own sister your going to hold his neck up against a wall! What's the matter with you; don't you think! If you haven't noticed I am fully clothed and nothing happened last night except for I went out of my mind and almost killed him with a knife." Her blue eyes flared. Her body had healed from the Nightmare Shade incident and there were no longer any visible wounds beside the gash on her arm from the night before. She was beautiful and angry. Her eyes softened and she held out her hand to her fallen brother much in the same way she had for Relena on the ship. "But get up and give your sister a hug. I missed you." Heero grabbed her hand and she brought him up. They wrapped their arms around each other and held each other tightly for a moment before they let go. 

            From behind them they could hear a snicker and Trowa, Jade, and Heero all looked towards the door. Kari was trying hard not to laugh as Duo stated, "It's a Kodak moment." 

            "Oh put a sock in it Duo." Jade had said but everyone even Heero smiled. Everyone made there way out of the room Trowa being the last to leave. Before he closed the door to Jade's room he caught the sight of his ripped pants. He watched as Jade laughed, joked, and smiled with everyone on their way down to the kitchen and wondered what demons harbored in her beautiful frame. 

A few days later once everyone had returned.

            "Every piece of scrap Gundamium has been found and brought to us. But we are facing a problem. There isn't enough Gundanium to rebuild all of the original Gundams. Which leaves us with a problem. Which Gundams do we rebuild?" Trowa said to start off the meeting. Everyone had been called and everyone was home. They were all seated in Quatre's very plush living room. They huddled around a table and some laptops. They were there to argue about the campaign against the A's so far. 

            "So why don't you just combine the old designs with each other and make new gundams out of scrap metal?" Poe asked.

            "Because that would screw up the systems and the pilots way of fighting. Each pilot had their own suits and they developed their fighting styles to match the suit they used. It wouldn't be right to combine the Deathscythe with the Shenlong. It just wouldn't work for either Duo or Wufei." Noin said. Duo and Wufei visibly cringed with they thought of their beloved suits being combine with the other. 

            "Well then which suits are gonna be rebuilt?" Lily asked. Each pilot looked at the other apprehensively. All wanted their suits back but they didn't want to deny one of the other's wishes to have their suit back either. No one knew what to do. 

            "No offense Quatre and Trowa but I don't think Sandrock or Heavyarms should be rebuilt at this moment. We may find more Gundanium later and then we could rebuild Sandrock and Heavyarms then but I think either Deathscythe, Shenlong, or Zero should be rebuilt." Woo said flipping though the information. 

            Quatre visibly disappointed nodded his head. Trowa simply nodded not giving any emotion. "Ok then that argument is settled. But we have another problem. The original designs for most of the gundams have been lost. So how do we find them again." Duo said.

            At that moment Hilde and Relena walked in. The pirates on the ship had injured Hilde badly in the attack and she had been healing in her room. Lately though it looked like she was getting better. She was carrying a bunch of papers and she handed them to Duo. "Those are the original designs Duo." Everyone turned around a looked at the two younger females. 

"Don't look so surprised. We had help. Dorothy had copies of the originals." Relena said. 

"That's not all. When was the last time any of you corresponded with Dorothy?" Everyone in the room shrugged. None of them had seen Dorothy for the longest time. "That's what I thought. Did you guys know she has been saving up stored gundanium?" Everyone looked shocked. Hilde just smirked at all of them. "She has enough Gundanium to create three new gundams." 

"That's amazing," Quatre said. "But how are we going to get that metal from where she is to were we are. The amount of Gundanium won't just go unnoticed by the A's." 

"She has agreed to build them in her facility. She said she would like for the pilots of the gundams she's building to go and help supervise the construction of them." Relena explained. 

"So which gundams should we allow her to build?" Wufei asked. 

"I think she should build Sandrock, Heavyarms, and Wing Zero. This way we have scrap metal here for spare parts. I will accompany you down to Earth and then once the originals have been built we can launch and counter offensive and make Dawnty fight a two front war." Jade said. 

Une placed a hand on Jade's shoulder. "I will go with you. I left Mari Maya on Earth with Dorothy and I would like to see her if it's not to much trouble." Jade turned around and smiled at her nodding her head.  

            Step walked over to Lady Une and placed a couple of photos in her hand. Une looked at each one individually. "Those are for Mari Maya and Dorothy. I can't go with you. I need to stay here." She said sadly. One of the photo's were of Steph and Lily standing next to one another with flour caking their shirts and faces. Another one showed them all around a table while Kari passed out pieces of cake. Another one showed Jade with a sleeping Kari in her arms. The last one showed Jade stuffing and entire slice of cake down Woo's throat and the others were in the background laughing. Lady Une turned to look at Lily and she blushed a deep crimson. "It was Kari's birthday so we made her a cake. Things didn't really go as planned." 

Lady Une smiled and placed the photos in her briefcase she carried. "I will make sure these get to them Lily." Lily smiled and nodded her thanks.

"Well I think that's the end of it. We can finalize these plans later but I think right now everyone is tired. We'll work more on it tomorrow and the one's who are leaving will leave by the end of the week." Heero said. 

Duo stood up and stretched with his arms above his head and elongating his torso. Kari opened the door to the living room. She was in a long shirt that brushed the ground when she came walking into the room with the teddy bear Duo had bought for her on one of their excursions into the nearby town. Duo walked over to the little girl and picked her up. "So what is my little princess doing?" He said.

Kari's bottom lip quivered and she nuzzled her little head against Duo shoulder so no one could see her face "I just wanted the girls to sing the song to me." She said quietly almost miserably. All of the girls' eyes when wide and they exchanged glances at each other. Woo walked over to Duo and held her arms out to Kari. Kari wiggled out of Duo's arms and into hers. Woo cuddled Kari's body against hers and rocked back and forth. 

The others quickly rushed to them. "We're so sorry Kari. I guess with everything going on I guess we completely forgot what night it was." Lily said. Kari nodded her small little head against Woo's shoulder to show that she understood and that it was all right. Woo turned towards the door and walked out of the room and Lily and Steph followed. Before Jade left she muttered, "I can't believe I forgot what night it was." Her bandaged arm closed the door behind her and their footsteps could be heard going up the stairs. 

"What was that all about?" Duo asked. Heldi quietly sat down and took a deep breath before explaining.

"Do you guys know what night it is?" She asked. Everyone left in the room shook their heads. "Tonight was the night Kari's mother and father was assassinated. It's been a year now. Almost every night after they saved Kari they would sing this song her. But after a while they were gone and they couldn't sing the song to her. She told me while I was watching her, before you guys found us that she wished she could hear them sing again. It means a lot to her. And tonight it's more important than ever." Hilde quietly stood up and walked out the door tracing the footsteps that girls had just followed. Duo followed after her with Poe, Quatre, Relena and Une. Heero, Trowa, and Wufei looked at each other and followed behind them.

Trowa walked between Wufei and Heero and once they reached the top of the stairs they looked down the hall to see a soft glow light up the hallway and the door to Jade's room was open. The three warriors walked down the hall together and entered the room where the others were already inside waiting. Quatre handed Trowa his flute as soon as he entered the room. Trowa took it surprise written on his face. He looked at Jade who was standing next to the window and she nodded to him. Quatre picked up his violin and Trowa readied his flute. Then he realized something. He looked to Quatre and Quatre shrugged his shoulders. Neither of them knew any of the songs they were going to try to accompany with these girls. Lily walked next to them and whispered into their ears. Both boys smiled at the girl as she walked to Kari who was already laying her tired head down on Woo's lap. Everyone looked at Quatre as he pulled back his bow and the wood in his hands began to sing. Trowa lifted the flute to his lips and played the song he had only heard once maybe twice but remembered with accuracy. 

Jade opened her mouth and the most beautiful harmony was made. With all the sadness she had ever known she began with, "How do I say good bye to what we had? The good times that made us laugh. I'll wave them back. I thought we'd get to see forever. But forever gone away. It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."  

Woo opened her mouth and held Kari closer to her. She cried out in her light voice the words, "I don't know where this road is going to lead me. All I know is where is we've been. And what we've through. If we get to see tomorrow I hope it's worth the pain. It's so hard to say good bye to yesterday." 

Lily and Steph sang together, "And I'll take with me the memories to be my sun shine after the rain. It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."

They finally all sang together, "And I'll take with me the memories to be my sun shine after the rain. It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday." By the time the last note fell Kari was asleep for the long haul. Woo kissed her head softly and laid her softly on Jade's bed as she got up. Every one quietly walked out of the room. They all followed Duo down to the kitchen and Poe was nice enough to warm up some soup for everyone with Duo, Hilde, and Lily's help. 

"Where did you learn to sing like that?" Trowa asked them. After everyone was more or less sitting down in the kitchen. 

Jade who was sitting on the counter answered quietly. "I was trained to sing. Dr. J didn't know if it would be a talent I would need to know but he taught me anyway. The same reason he taught Heero and I to dance. He didn't know if I would be useful during a mission." 

Woo who sat next to spoke next. "I wasn't trained like she was but I always singing with Merian. She had the voice of a nightingale and I always wanted to be like my sister." 

Lily and Steph smiled at each other and Lily said, "Steph and I had the same voice master and had to take lessons together. We had to know it for our positions in society." Steph rolled her eyes clear annoyed that she would have to take something as useless as voice lessons. Lily yawned loudly and put her dishes into the sink leaving them for someone else to clear before walking out the door, "Going to bed. I've got lotsa work to do tomorrow on Moon. Night guys." Steph and Woo cleared their dishes and Lily's before leaving the room. Slowly one by one every one left the room. 

Soon the only two left were Jade and Trowa. She smiled at him and picked up his empty bowl and took them over to the sink. She slowly cleaned them her graceful hands with a song humming in the back of her throat. Trowa watched her. She stopped for a second and turned around to look at him. "Why are you watching me?" She asked.

"Because you're the only thing around to look at." Trowa said easily. Jade shrugged and began stacking everyone's dry dishes into the cupboards. He watched her. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" He said.

            She didn't even turn around but answered him with a, "Sure," and continued her work.

            "What where you hallucinating about the other night when you cut me." Trowa said carefully. He needed to know. Usually he wasn't one to question but this time his curiosity was too much for him. 

            Jade stopped stacking the dishes and turned around to look at him with a glint in her eyes. "What makes you think I was hallucinating about anything?" She said

            "Because you were and any idiot who watched you dance like you did would know that you were hallucinating." He said with a twinge of sarcasm. 

She looked shocked. "I was dancing?" Trowa nodded but she still couldn't believe it. She turned away from him and her hands gripped the counter. 

Trowa sensed her change of mood but continued questioning her. "What were you hallucinating about?" he asked again.

Jade shook her head. "It's none of your business." She said storming out of the kitchen leaving a shocked Trowa in the wake of her anger. He could feel her anger but more importantly he saw the pain written across her eyes. He remained sitting in the kitchen for a long time asking himself why he wanted to know and why she wouldn't tell. 

Few days later. 

"Yeah all systems are operational and up to full power." Jade said into her communication link. She waved to all of them and closed down her screen. Heero, Trowa, Une, and were all seated a bit cramped in the hollows of Starlight's legs. She switched to flight mode and the gears once again shifted and they were racing off into space bound for Earth. For the longest time she didn't believe Earth had existed. It was too beautiful to exist. The enormity of the vast blue marble fascinated her and she was happy to go back down to the land where the first humans had sprung. She felt a call to Earth. An unexplainable calling to go back to where anything can happen, where storms weren't controlled, where the air was sweeter and most importantly there was the ocean, a wonder that couldn't be recreated onto a colony. She put the mobile suit on auto mode and opened a back hatch behind her seat and took the ladders down to the others. All were seated on the small floor space. "It's on auto flight," She said to anyone who cared and she rubbed her back against the wall and slid down to the floor and began to doze off seeing as she hadn't had much sleep thinking about what Trowa had told her and what she had allowed him to see. She dreamed of blue skies and the sea blue green of the ocean. 

Jade at Heero's advice stopped little and because of that they made it to Earth in almost record time. A day later Heero was piloting Starlight into the Earth's atmosphere. He kept sensing a strange tension between Trowa and his sister. He also sensed it between Une and Jade also. He didn't understand and he learned a long time ago not to try and pry into her mind. If she wanted to tell him she would but it was still eating him up inside no understanding what was going on between his sister and his teammates. He piloted a course for Dorothy's residents. 

Heero didn't know why but he had always like Dorothy. Her intelligence and strength reminded him so much of his sister except for the sly attitude. He respected Dorothy as a teammate and as his love's greatest supporter. Relena. Even her name made him shiver. He truly did love her. But he couldn't admit that to anyone but himself. He wanted her, needed her. But Heero wasn't worthy of someone like Relena. He told himself that over and over. Yet he dreamed of some day being able to love her, as he knew she should be. 

And that is when Jade interrupted his thoughts. "We'll be landing soon. I'll take over the controls bro." He moved over and she smoothly sat down in the pilot's seat. She maneuvered the machine with more skill than she gave herself credit for. They landed at Dorothy's base with the blonde haired vixen waving to them. The hatch opened and Heero, Trowa, and Une stood tall and Jade took in a long breath of the sweet Earth. Deep in her mind she whispered _Dearest Mother Earth. I have returned to you. _

"I got your message." Dorothy said as they all entered her home, after the Gundam had been placed in the underground hanger. They all sat down in plush seats as Dorothy continued discussing plans. "The gundams Sandrock, Heavyarms, and Wing Zero are to be built here. But where is Quatre? Shouldn't he be here to oversee the building of Sandrock?" She questioned with a slight quirk of her eyebrow. "Quatre will be coming along later. He is bringing the Manqunacs." Heero told her. Dorothy nodded her head and stood up and extended a hand to Jade. "I am Dorothy Catalonia. I do not believe we have met." Jade stood and shook Dorothy's hand. "Jade Yuy. I have heard alot about you. It's a pleasure Ms. Catalonia." Dorothy smiled a true smile, not one of her usually sly ones. "Call me Dorothy please." Jade returned her smile. "Call me Jade." 

Dorothy handed Jade two sealed envelopes. "These are for you. My cousin Trieze wrote one before he died and he entrusted it to me. The other was delivered just this morning by an unknown source. When you are finished please join the rest of us in the control room." Dorothy turned to Lady Une. "Mari Maya is upstairs and very anxious to see you. Heero, Trowa if you will follow me to the control room and give Jade her privacy, we will review the plans for upgrading HeavyArms and perhaps even Wing Zero." Dorothy turned and headed towards a door while Lady Une walked through a nearby doorway and up the steps. Trowa gave a long last look at Jade's turned back before closing the door and following Heero. 

Jade opened the first envelope and read Zech's familiar handwriting. 

               _Dear Jade,_

                        Your past is sure to be brought up again in Dorothy's presence. Do not be afraid to tell Dorothy what you know. Behind her cynical attitude she is a caring, kind, lost, soul, which is trying to find her way in this world. She can be trusted. She also is in love. I will not tell you who for it will be reveal to you soon enough. I also hear of your failed attempt to control the Zero system. Dear Jade I figured you would have mastered that by now. Maybe you are not ready for the Zero system. Or maybe you were never meant to have it. Whatever the reason I suggest you master it soon, find a way around it, or not use it at all. 

_                                                Forever your Friend and Spy, _

_                                                            Milliardo Peacecraft  _

Jade's hands shook with the feeling of failure and anger. "Maybe Zech's was right. Maybe I shouldn't be trifling with the Zero system." Jade said to herself. Jade looked out the window and down at the other envelope. She tore up Zech's note and stuffed the other one into her jacket. She proceeded to go through the door, down the hallway, and down a flight of stairs to the control room where the others were discussing the gundams and upgrades. 

            Two days later in the hanger

Piercing icy blue eyes looked over the control system looking for a familiar figure. She saw his wild brown hair and his eyes narrowing in concentration. Mari Maya had escaped her piano lessons to come down to see her hero. She had only spoken to Heero for a few brief minutes, but those words had saved her life and the lives of millions. She walked as quietly as she could with a glass of cold water in her hand. It hurt to walk but thanks to revolutionary technology she was able to walk without a limp. She was almost to the open cockpit when she tripped over a stray wire and went falling onto the hanger's iron floor. The glass flew from her hand and crashed to the floor breaking into a million little pieces. The young red head pick herself up and rubbed her hurt face and looked up to see a strong, soldier towering above her. Her face turned bright red and she looked down horrified at what had just happened. Heero, the perfect soldier, was looking down at her without an expression on his face. He probably thought she was a complete klutz. She looked up again and he was offering a hand to her. She shyly took it and, with his help, picked herself up. She quickly hurried over to the glass she had dropped and tried to pick up the piece only managing to injure herself further by cutting her hands badly. 

Little Mari Maya was close to tears, but she refused to let her hero see her cry. He had, after all, fought in numerous battles and been injured several times, but not once had she heard of her great soldier crying. Mari Maya felt a hand on the small of her back and she couldn't contain herself any longer. Her tears welled up and fell from her eyes rolling down her cheeks. All she had wanted was to show her hero that she was useful. That she could help him. But she was such a complete idiot. She was never going to become a great pilot like her hero. He would never like someone who cried. He would never be her friend now. She made no noise, only let her tears roll down her cheeks. 

Heero didn't know what he was supposed to do. He felt awkward. Then, scared as saw the tears flow from out of her eyes. He saw the blood on her hands from where she had cut herself. He grabbed her shoulders and lifted her into a standing position. Then he slipped his arm under her knees and moved his other arm to her back and picked her up. He carried her past the control room and up the stairs. He took a left into one of the many kitchens and sitting the girl on the table, he quietly searched around for a towel. He found one and a first aid kit and, after wetting the towel, returned to Mari Maya. 

The little girl's blood shot eyes looked at him confused. The tear streaks had made her face feel tight and her nose was as bright as a cherry. Heero looked into those eyes and saw a beautiful little girl. He took the towel and gently washed the salt from her face whispering comforting words in his native Japanese. Then, he took tweezers out of the kit and gently pulled out the pieces of glass. Mari Maya didn't make a single sound while all of this happened. The gundam pilot gently washed and bandaged the little girl's hand and asked in a smooth voice. "Just what do you think you were doing down in the hanger with a glass Ms. Mari Maya." The little girl looked down at her bandaged hands. "I was bringing you water Mr. Yuy. I-I-I thought you might be thirsty. A-A-And I wanted to see the gundams. A-And I thought that maybe I could see the new gundam and the lady who pilots it. And I wanted to get away from my piano lessons. And I wanted to see Trowa the pilot of HeavyArms. And I" the girl continued to ramble on gaining more speed and energy, forgetting the earlier shame she had felt and becoming a normal 12 year old child. Heero listen intently while washing his hands and when she finally ran out of breathe Heero said, "Would you like to see the new cockpit of Wing Zero. I'm afraid that's the only thing that has been started on so far." Mari Maya's eyes went wide. She practically jumped out of her skin. Her eyes shone as she said breathlessly, "Really? Could I?" Heero shrugged and nodded his head. She leaped down from the counter and followed Heero back down to the hanger. She walked past the glass without looking down, and leaped up to the edge of the heart of the new gundam. She touched the cool controls gently, but didn't go inside. 

"Why don't you go ahead and sit inside." Her heart thumped. She couldn't believe it could be this true. She sat inside and put her hands on the steering controls lightly. She looked around and knew now that her dream might come true. She may someday sit inside a mobile suit like this and fight beside her hero. That is if there was ever a war. Mari Maya didn't like war, but she knew that warriors were needed. She wanted to grow up to be a Preventor when this war ended. Heero looked at this little Mari Maya and remembered the little girl with the dog that he had accidentally killed. The memory still pained him. But seeing Mari Maya like this and after having met Kari, he knew that a part of that little girl was in them and that he would make it up to them somehow. Mari Maya turned to Heero with wide scared eyes and asked quietly, "Mr. Yuy? Would you be my friend?" Heero smile and nodded knowing finally how to make it up to the little girl he had killed so long ago. "Yes I will be your friend." Mari Maya smiled. "Would you show me what this button would do?"

"That button will allow for the gundam to morph into a flyer." And as Mari Maya sat in the Wing Zero's cockpit Relena, who had come down to see Heero, smiled and turned around and walked the other way.               


	11. The Letter

Chapter 11: The Letter

            Jade stared at the pool of moonlight on her floor. The moonlight fell across her stomach and legs as she lied in her bed. In her hand she twirled the envelope that Dorothy had given her. Trieze had written this to her before his death in the final battle of the OZ war. Her back leaned against the headboard and her smooth legs crossed each other. Her shoulder length hair curled around her neck. She slowly exhaled and opened the envelope. The sound of tearing paper echoed into the dark room. Jade held the letter out in front of her and read out loud the contents of the note. 

            "My Dearest Desert Rose, I've had time to write a book about the way you act and look. I haven't got a paragraph. I fear you will never forgive, rather you will try to forget everything that you and I shared. I saw the anger inside of you when I first touched you. That first time I gently placed my fingertips on your shoulders. You turned around and backhanded me. I can still hear the words you told me. You shouted, 'Don't ever touch me again.' I was arrogant and I thought that I could have anyone I wanted. With that slap and your forceful words, you brought me down, and showed me a side of humanity that I had never saw before." Jade exhaled, inhaled, and continued. "But I wanted you. You had beauty that I had never known before. You were a dying soul trying to live. But I questioned to myself why you were trying to live when you had nothing to live for. You were a simple slave. Then, I saw the loyalty that you showed towards the other slave when you asked me to buy her. You were willing to humiliate yourself in front of me, for her life. While I write I remember the look on your face when I told you what you would have to do to convince me to buy her. It was the same look on your face when you kneeled in front of me and pleaded in an angry tone 'master Trieze I press upon you to buy this woman. Please, I beg of you, buy her life.' I felt ashamed at what I had done. I looked at the Oriental girl, who was sedated from the pain that she was in from her injuries. You didn't even hesitate to kneel down to save her life. You didn't think twice about humiliating yourself for her sake. Then, when we brought her to the mansion, you nursed her. I realized, watching you with her one night that you had something to live for. You didn't consider yourself a slave. You considered yourself a prisoner of war. She was your comrade. You had someone and something to believe in. During this time, I commanded you to dance for me. There was nothing else I wanted when I was home, than to watch you dance until your body broke. Then, you would stumble out of my room and I would spend the rest of the night watching you in my mind. I couldn't take it anymore. I beg of you forgive me for what I did, but I couldn't take it anymore. I am ashamed at what I did. I held Woo's life over your head. I gave you no other alternative than to share my bed. But there's where things went awry. I thought that I was in control. I wasn't. You have to believe me that what I share with you that night and the nights after wasn't anything I had ever done before. You were unlike any other woman I had ever met. At such a young age, you knew the difference between love and lust. And when you shared my bed, you loved me. Afterwards, you would lie next to me, smoothly sweaty, your body broken; I would kiss your skin, tasting the salt that lingered from your body. I would wake up to your arm thrown over my torso and your head lying on my shoulder. I remember how some nights I wouldn't enjoy your body. I would simply lie with you on my bed, holding you, while you asked me questions about my life, my principals, my values. It was through your questions I was able to discover just how much I truly valued my soldiers and life. It was when I had you in my arms that I thought maybe war wouldn't always go on. Strangely enough it was as I was falling in love with you, that Woo fell in love with me. I kissed her. You saw. But although you were angry and confused you still loved me in bed. You still gave yourself to me wholeheartedly. I couldn't understand. Unfortunately, I knew that what I shared with you couldn't last forever. Jade, I know you loved me, but never enough to truly be mine. It was simply in your nature to love. You, Jade, are lovely and loving. You gave your body to me and showed me something that you had always known deep inside yourself. You shared that with me. I realize now that I loved you. And now I share that same love with Lady Une. Please, allow me to remember you lying in my arms beautiful, strong, and weak. You will find your way, no matter what happens. I have no worries. I have no fears. Good-bye forever my first love. Good-bye." 

            Jade woke up the next morning with the letter in her hand and tears on her pillow. She shook the sleep from her head and took a long look at the letter. She folded it back up and placed it on her nightstand and went to get ready to upgrade Starlight.

*And there you have it folks. This letter is a little out of character for Trieze, but I was trying to reach for his softer side. You know the side where he loved Lady Une and remembered all of his soldiers' names. I hope it wasn't too cheesy that you couldn't swallow it. Thank you Lady Star* 


End file.
